Full Moon
by summer-echo-11
Summary: Hayley's life changed when she became a mermaid with Cleo, Rikki, & Emma. When she was able to cope with that change, another one occurred - moving to Forks. But along with that change comes werewolves & vampires, & the mermaids are dragged into their war
1. Chapter 1

"Where are you moving again, Hayley?" Lewis asked for the third time as he sat down on the sand that covered the stone floor of the cave.

"Forks, Washington. It's where my stepbrother lives. My mom's new job is there, and she also wants to go see him and his fiancee again. Supposedly she's great," I said back, a smile tugging at my lips. As much as I hated to leave Australia, I did want to see my step-brother again. I haven't seen him for the past few years, after my mom had a falling out with my dad. My dad was originally married to a woman named Rachel, but then they divorced, and my dad married my mom. He already had a son named Sam, and so when they married and had me, he became my step-brother. But three years ago, they got a divorce, and my mom and I moved to Australia.

"I still can't believe that you're leaving tomorrow. It's going to be so weird without you here, and I'm going to miss you!" Cleo said, her tail making the water splash as she swam over to me.

Did I forget to mention? Three of my best friends and I are mermaids. About a year ago, Cleo, Rikki, and Emma went to Mako Island. After they went into the moon pool during a full moon, they transformed into mermaids. The next time there was a full moon, I was swimming there, and I turned into one too. I found them swimming a few days later, and we all became friends soon after that. 10 seconds after we touch water, we change, unless we can get all of the water off of us by then. It's been hard, but it's also been amazing.

"I'm going to miss you too, Cleo. I'm going to miss you all," I said as I gave each of them a hug. "Why don't we enjoy what time we have left? Race you to the docks!"

I could see the fins of their tails as Emma and Cleo raced out of the moon pool, and sand went everywhere as Lewis ran out of the cave. Right before Rikki left, I grabbed her arm and told her stay. "Can you do something for me, Rikki?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"I know that you're going out with Zane again." Rikki's face turned into a shocked expression and her mouth hung open. "I know that he knows about us again too. Can you just tell him that I'm going to miss him? I don't think that I'm going to have time to tell him."

Although Zane seems like a jerk on the outside, he was my first real friend here. My mom and his mom were friends when they were in high school, and so when we moved here from Forks, they started to hang out again, and me and Zane were dragged to their parties. When your the only two teenagers at an adult party, you start to form a relationship.

Slowly, Rikki closed her mouth and said, "Su-sure. I can do that."

"Thanks Rikki," I said with a smile on my face, but I was surprised on her stumble. She was usually the strong one in our group, the one that didn't get intimidated or anything like that. But I guess that she was surprised that I found out. I have to admit, they were good at keeping it a secret, but with Zane talking about her to me, it was obvious that they were boyfriend and girlfriend again. "Now come on, we don't want them to win this race!"

Rikki and I swam out of the moon pool and raced as fast as we could to catch up with Cleo and Emma. We didn't want them to beat us and have them mocking us for being last again!

* * *

"Mom! I'm home!" I yelled into my house as I walked inside. I took the key in my hand and placed it on the kitchen counter, despite it being covered by the large, brown boxes.

Rikki, Emma, Cleo, Lewis, and I had said our goodbyes once we got out of the water. Rikki was never really one to show her emotions, but I knew that she cared for me and was sad that I was leaving, and Emma and Lewis took it hard, but Cleo and I took it the hardest. My mom and I lived in Australia for a year while she was still married to my dad, and me and Cleo became best friends during that time, so it was amazing when I got to see her here again. We share everything with each other, and during that period of time that she was a mermaid and I wasn't, I knew that keeping the secret was killing her.

"Great! Can you help me put all of these glass figurines in the boxes? They're the last things that need to be packed." My mom's usually tamed brown hair was frizzy and scattered above her head. She had oil on her shirt and grease spots all over her face.

"Sure," I said. I grabbed the glass piano and started wrapping it in the gray paper. "Where you trying to fix the car up?" I asked my mom.

"Yeah. It's finally done," she told me with a smile on her face. "That beat up car is finally fixed!"

"Good for you mom," I laughed. Silence filled the air as we wrapped up the last of the glass figurines.

"There. We're done," my mom said as she put the last one in. "They moving van will be here in an hour to get all of the stuff, and we'll have to leave tomorrow at four in the morning so we don't miss the plane. Why don't you take a shower and then go to bed? You're going to have a long day tomorrow."

"You sure you don't need help when they come?"

"I'm sure honey."

"Alright. Night."

I walked up the stairs and headed towards my room. As I was walking, I looked around my house. This was the last time I was ever going to live here. I opened up the squeaky door and stepped inside the purple room. Everything was packed away in boxes downstairs, and the only thing that was left was my double bed and a pair of clothes for tomorrow and PJs. I walked into my bathroom and turned the bath water on hot. As I watched it fill up the tub, I took off my jean shorts and blue cami.

Stepping into the hot water and sitting down in the tub, I soon felt the familiar feeling as my legs transformed into a tail. I smiled as I looked at my orange tail. This was the one thing that made me different from most people. It's what truly changed me.

After washing my hair, I let the water drain out of the bathtub and I pulled myself out of it and onto the rug next to it. I took the fluffy towel that was on the counter and dried myself off. Soon enough, my tail was replaced with legs.

I walked out of the bathroom and put on my light blue cami and stripped pants, and then went to go turn off the lights. I climbed into bed, and soon felt sleep consume me.

Tomorrow everything was going to change.

Again.


	2. Chapter 2

"Last call for flight A-900 to Olympia, Washington," the announcer said.

"C'mon mom! We're gonna be late!" I yelled back to my mom as I ran down the hallway to our flight. I pushed through people, and regrettably pushed some down, but what could I do? We were going to be late for our plane!

After I turned the corner, I ran up to the flight attendant and gave her my ticket. She let me through the gate, and I looked back to see my mom right behind me. I walked down the ramp and onto the small plane. It was much smaller than some other ones that I've been on, but I guess Washington's just not a very popular place. I picked up my carry on and put it in the compartment overhead just as my mom was getting on the plane.

After letting my mom get in our row, I sat down in the aisle seat and pulled my ITouch out of my brown pocketbook. Putting in my headphones, I turned it on and heard the acoustic guitar of Rise Against's song Swing Life Away. Listening to the music, I fell asleep.

* * *

My mom woke me up when the plane landed, and we got our luggage afterwards. We got our rental car (we had to get one until our own car arrived) and hopped in it. My mom started the car, and drove out of the airport.

"Honey, I have to tell you something," my mom said after driving in the car for a few hours, her hand fidgeting on the steering wheel.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to be living with you brother and his fiancee in his house on the reservation until I can get some logistics down with the house that we bought. Is that alright?"

"Sure mom. I'm fine with that." I could hear her sigh in relief.

"You'll still be going to the Fork's High School. I don't want you to have to switch schools as soon as we both move into the house that we bought." She sounded much happier than she was before.

"Alright. Is Sam gonna drive me there?"

"I think so. If not, I'm sure that he'll find someone too."

I nodded my head, and looked out the window. The sky was getting darker and darker by the second, and it looked like it was about to rain. Shit. I couldn't leave the car if it was raining! I really hoped that we got there soon.

"We're here," my mom said as she pulled into a driveway.

I smiled and laughed silently to myself. Wish granted, and I thanked whoever was up there that granted me my wish. I pushed open the door and climbed out of the car. I went back to the trunk, opened it up, and took out all of my suitcases. There was a total of seven, so we made two trips. I carried three and my pocketbook, while my mom carried the other four.

I looked up at the brown, wooden house that I would be living in for who knows how long. It looked like a cozy home, so I was happy with it so far. I hated big houses. They just gave me this really bad feeling because there was so much room in it, and you might never know who else was in it.

We made our way to the door, only finding our way by the lone light that shone from the porch. We walked up the steps, and I rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, a black-haired girl opened the door. I couldn't see half of her face, because she was facing the other way, but she seemed beautiful.

"Hi! You must be Hayley and Ms. McCant. I'm Emily," she introduced as she turned to face us.

That's when I saw the three large scars that ran down her face. I stared at them for a second, but then turned my eyes away from them. I felt so bad for her! That must be horrible to live with, and if everyone stared at them when she met them, that would be even worse.

It seemed like she noticed though, and she said, "I had an accident a while back, and the scars never fully healed."

My hand flew straight to my mouth. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to stare or anything. I'm really sor..."

"Don't worry about it," she said with a smile. "Let's get you inside before the rain starts. It really pours here."

My mom and I walked inside the house and put my luggage down next to the door. We then walked into the kitchen, and I could smell amazing food being cooked.

"That smells really good," I said to Emily.

"Thanks. It'll be ready in a few minutes," she said. Then she turned up the the staircase and yelled, "Sam! Get down here! They're here!"

Loud steps resonated throughout the house as my older brother came tumbling down the stairs. He turned into the kitchen and a big smile broke out on his face.

"Sam!" I squealed. I ran over to him and jumped on him. His arms held onto my body as he kept me in the air and returned my hug.

"Hey Hayley," he said in my hair, and I could hear the smile on his face. "How've you been?"

He let go of me and my feet touched the floor. "I've been great! How've you been? Did you go on steroids or something?" I asked, punching him in the arm as I looked at how buffed up he got.

"That's good. And I've been great. And no. I've just worked out a lot lately," he laughed.

"Working out can get you muscles that big? Jeez, how long have you been working out for?" I said as I stared at his muscles. They was no way that he got that much muscle just by working out, especially since he was defiantly not like this when I last saw him, and that was only a few months ago!

"Few months. I started right after you left actually."

"Nice. It payed off, I can tell you that."

He smile down at me, and then went over to my mom. "Hey mom," he said, giving her a hug. Even though she wasn't technically his mom anymore, he still thought of her as it. "How've you been?"

"I've been good," she said. "I'm really sorry to cut this short, but I have to be somewhere soon. Hopefully I'll be back soon, though." She walked towards that door and opened it, letting in the cold wind. "Bye everyone!"

"Bye!" we all said as she walked out the door.

"So watcha been up to, sis?" he said as he rubbed my head.

"Oh, you know, nothing much. Just getting by," I said as I got away from him and walked towards the door where my stuff was. "Sam! Where do you want my stuff?"

"Here, I'll take it all," he said as he walked out of the kitchen and to hall.

"No way. I've got some of it." Instead of letting me help, he gathered up all of my suitcases but one and took them up the stairs easily.

"If you could take the last one up, that would be great Hale."

I looked up at him in shock. There was no way that he could carry all of those up! In a daze, I took my other suitcase and lugged it up the stairs. I heard Sam put my other suitcases down, so I followed the noise and walked into the room.

"Here's you room Hale," he said as he put the suitcases down. "It's not much, but you can do whatever you want with it."

I looked around the sea green room and saw that it had light brown wooden shelves on the walls. A double bed lay in the middle with white sheets, and a light brown wooden trunk laid at the edge of the bed. "It's great Sam," I said. "But I have a question."

"Yup?" he said from his spot on the bed.

"How the hell did you carry up six suitcases at once?" I asked, bewildered.

He laughed at my expression on my face, and couldn't keep the smile off his face. Eventually, he made me laugh too. "I told you. I've been working out."

"But even if you've been working out, I'm pretty sure that that is near impossible."

He just shrugged in response. "Don't ask questions. Just be glad that you didn't have to go up and down trying to get your things up here."

"True, I guess."

"Good. Now do you want something to eat or not?"

"Yes!" I yelled, standing up. "I bet I can beat you down there," I said with a smirk on my face.

"Your on!" he yelled and then started racing down the stairs.

"No fair, you got a head start!" I laughed as I chased after him.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: hey everyone! I hope your liking this story so far, and i'm really excited for it :) _

_just to let you know, this takes place in between new moon and eclipse. _

_i'm hoping for two reviews before I update, so, as always, reviews are welcome! enjoy!_

* * *

I woke up the next day with such a bad headache. I stayed up pretty much all night talking with Sam, so I wasn't surprised that it was aready one when I got out of bed. I took a quick shower and after I got out, I put my hair up in a towel and dried myself off. Fishing around my suitcase, I took out my pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and cowboy boots, along with a 3/4 sleeve, plain white shirt.

After putting on my clothes, I blow-dried my hair and saw in the mirror a frizzy mess. It always got like this when I blow dried my hair, but I didn't have time to let it air dry! So I curled my hair and was out the room 15 minutes later.

Walking downstairs, I could smell the food coming from the kitchen. It always seemed like food was being cooked here. I walked in the kitchen and saw Emily busy at the stove. "You want any help?"

"Sure, that would be great!" she said turning to me. "Can you take the pizzas out of the oven?" She pointed over to a fairly large oven, and then pointed to a pair of oven mitts, saying that I could use those to take the pizzas out.

I walked over to the oven and opened the door, expecting to see only one pizza, but how I was wrong! "Oh my God! How many pizzas do you guys eat?" I said as I stared incredulously at the three pizzas cooking in the oven, and the three already on the stove top.

"Well, it's not only for us. The boys are coming over, and they eat a lot."

"How many people are there going to be here?"

"Well, there's me, you and Sam of course, and then there's Embry, Paul, Quil, Jared, and Jacob."

"So what, each of us is going to eat pretty much a whole pizza?"

"Me and you probably won't, unless you have a appetite like them," she said looking over at me. "Do you?"

"No way. That is way to much food for one person."

"You'd be surprised at how much food they eat. It's ridiculous."

"I would imagine..." I whispered to myself. "So where do you want them?"

"Just put them on a plate and put them on the table. They should be here soon, so they'll be gone just as fast as you put them down," she said with a laugh.

Just then, a door barged open and I could hear it hit against the wall. Loud voices carried through the house and I could tell that the boys that Emily was talking about were here.

"Speak of the devils," she said.

"Hey Em! I smell something good!" a deep voice called.

"You know Embry, I might just not let you have any!" Emily teased back.

They were getting closer to the room, and I was getting nervous. I could feel my palms start to sweat, and I was getting really hot. I never liked meeting new people. People said that I was shy and quiet, but I was only like that in front of new people when I was alone. If I had my friends with me I would have no problem, but I don't.

I walked up to Emily and tapped her shoulder. She quickly turned around, her black hair flying everywhere, and I asked if she had anything to drink. It would cool me down, and if it was in another room and I had to go get it, then I wouldn't have to meet the boys just yet.

"Yeah, in the next room there's a closet and soda and water should be in there, as long as you don't mind it being warm."

"Thanks," I said back to her as I left the room. I turned the corner and saw a panty towards the back of the room. I walked over and took out a Sprite. Opening the can, I could hear the voices of the boys in the other room. Come on Hayley, just go in there. Sam's gonna be there, and it's not gonna be bad meeting them. You gotta stop being shy someday.

I walked to the door, pausing before I went in, but then I opened the door and walked inside. The boys were facing the other way, and didn't notice that I came in, but my God. They were by far not boys at all. They were so huge! I thought that Sam was the only one with the massive muscles, but they all had them! They just had to be on steroids or something.

Sam turned around then and noticed me, saying, "Hey Hayley! Is that Sprite? Can I have some?" He walked over to me and reached for the soda.

"No way!" I giggled, forgetting that the boys were here. "Get your own!"

"Nope! I think I'm just going to have to take this," he said, almost succeeding in taking my soda away from me.

I ducked under his arm and ran out the door leading to the living room. I could hear him chasing me and I chugged down the soda as I ran, careful not to get any liquid on me. I did not want to be sprouting a tail in front of my brother. I didn't know if he would even be able to comprehend that.

I turned around and showed Sam my empty can of soda with a smirk on my face. He growled in defeat and walked into the kitchen.

"You know Sam, you could have just got another one from the pantry," I heard Emily say.

I walked in right after that, and I could feel the boy's eyes on me. Although one of their stares was intense. He was the tallest of the people there, and he had insane muscles. His black hair was cropped, like the rest of them except for one who had curly hair, and he had brown eyes.

I saw my brother look to where I was looking and his gaze landed on the guy. Sam's eyes went wide at this, and I could only wonder why.

Snapping out of his trance, Sam introduced me to them and said my name was Hayley.

"Hey, I'm Quil," the curly haired one said, "and this is Embry, Paul, Jared, and Jacob." He pointed at the skinny one, the one who looked like he was about to get angry problems, the quiet one, and the one with the intense stare as he introduced each one.

Jacob was still staring at me, and it was kinda starting to freak me out. I mean, really. You don't need to stare for that long. The others noticed too, because they started punching Jacob in the arm, and he finally came out of his daze.

"Em, can you and Hayley go and get the rest of the soda out of the car? I bought some new packs today," my brother said to Emily.

They had a look pass between them, so I knew that that wasn't the real reason they wanted us out. But before I could say no, Emily dragged me out the door.

And the guy was still staring at me as I left.


	4. Chapter 4

_hey everyone! thanks for the amazing reviews :) reviews are greatly appreciated, and they really make my dayy. but onto the show!_

* * *

(Jacob POV)

"Hey Hayley! Is that Sprite? Can I have some?"

As I heard Sam speak, I turned around, and my eyes immediately fell on the girl that was walking towards us. _Shit. _She was all I could see, like she was my world now. Everything around her disappeared. I wanted to take her in my arms, and I knew that I needed to protect her. I know that Sam said that an imprint's pull was strong, but hell, this was irresistible.

Sam chased her out of the room trying to get her soda and I had this strong desire to follow her. It took whatever ounce of strength that I had not to. I could feel the guys staring at me, but I don't think that they knew that I imprinted, which was good, cause I don't think I would ever hear the last of it if they did know.

Sam and Hayley came back in then, and once again I could not tear my eyes away from her. This was getting bad, incredibly bad. She looked at me strangely, and I bet that she thought that I was a freak or something. Great! The girl that I was to spend my life with thinks that I'm some weird kid.

I saw Sam turn towards me from the corner of my eyes, and I could see that he noticed. His eyes bulged out and they clouded over. _Fuck, this is not good. _Would he kill me because I imprinted on this girl?

"Em, can you and Hayley go and get the rest of the soda out of the car? I bought some new packs today," Sam said, and then I saw Hayely walk out of the room with Emily.

"Jacob. Talk. Now," I heard Sam growl.

"Umm, I imprinted," I said nervously, running a hand through my hair.

"You imprinted on my sister?"

"Yeah, I di...Wait! Your sister?" I said, but all I could think of was holy shit.

"Yes. My sister," he growled.

"I didn't know that you had a sister."

"I don't think any of us did," Embry said, bewildered.

"Come on Sam. You're defiantly joking. She doesn't look anything like you!" Paul said.

He was right. Sam had russet skin and cropped, straight black hair like the rest of us (except for Quil), while she had white skin with a slight tan and brown, curly hair that went a little below her shoulders. He had brown eyes, while she had blue eyes. He was the second tallest out of all of us, and she was only about 5'3''! There was no way that they could be related!

"She's actually my half-sister," Sam said, sitting down in a chair. "Her dad is my dad, and her mom was my step-mom before they got a divorce. She's living here until her mom can get a house. They moved here for her mom's job, and her mom originally had a house, but then it was sold to another person.

"Hayley is living here until her mom can find one. But she is to know _nothing_ of that, got it? She just thinks that there are a few things that need to be done with the house, not that they need to get a new one. If she finds out, she'll freak. Okay?" Sam said.

We all nodded our heads, and Sam directed his attention to me.

"And she can't know anything about werewolves or vampires or anything like that, including knowing that you imprinted on her. I don't want her to get tangled up in this. Got it?"

"Fine," I said, but what I really wanted to do was scream at him for having to lie to her. How the hell was I supposed to make sure that I don't let it slip?

"Hey guys, we're back," I heard Emily call.

"Did you get the sodas?" Sam asked, going up to her and giving her a kiss. Fuck you, Sam. Way to rub your relationship in my face while I can't have mine right now. I can't even tell her the truth about anything!

"Yeah, they're right here," Emily said and put the sodas on the counter.

"I really don't know why you had to send both of us out Sam. There was only one pack of soda, and one person could have easily handled that." I turned toward that door, and I saw Hayley closing the door and turning towards us.

"Oh. I thought I bought more than that. Sorry," Sam lied.

I heard Hayley mutter something, but the only words that I could catch were "right" and "liar." Well, she knew how to figure out who the liars were.

Wait...that's not good.

Silence filled the air until Embry asked a question. "So why are you living with big, bad Sam here?"

I saw Sam give Embry a pointed glare, and I silently laughed to myself. That was so Embry, getting under Sam's skin.

Hayley smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just living here until my mom makes sure everything with the house is okay. Until then, I'm stuck with my brother," she said and punched Sam in the shoulder. He faked hurt, and Hayley started laughing. Her laugh is so beautiful, and I knew that I wanted to hear more of it.

_We gotta stick together, cause the best things come in four. I want it to last for ever..._

The song came for Hayley's pocket, and as she was getting the phone out, she said, "Sorry guys, I really gotta take this. I'll be right back." She walked out the door and opened the phone, saying hello to whoever was on the line.

Quil came up from behind me and punched my shoulder. "You got it bad," he laughed.

* * *

(Hayley POV)

I opened my phone, and walked out the door to the living room. "Hey Cleo. What's up?" I asked.

"You would not believe what just happened! I hate Charlotte. I hate her so much. You have no idea. She is the most arrogant, rude, self-"

"Cleo!"

"Yes?"

"What did the little cheat do now?"

"So I failed my biology exam, and my teacher decides that I should get a tutor. So I'm thinking I'll just call Lewis, right?"

"Right," I said and sat down on the couch. I knew that this was going to be long. Don't get me wrong, I love Cleo, but when she rants, she _rants_.

Especially about Charlotte, but I don't blame her. Although she won't really admit it, Cleo still has feelings for Lewis, and Charlotte is just getting in her way!

"So he says that he has already hired a tutor. And it turns out to be Charlotte! So she gives me a _ton_ of work to do that takes me the whole stupid weekend, just so she can get me out of the way and hang out with Lewis. I mean, who does that?"

"That little witch! I say you get her back for it, Cleo. I mean, after all, you have the power to do it. You _are_ a mermaid," I whispered.

"You're right! I seriously wish that you were here to do it with me though," she complained.

"Me too. I want to be back there with you guys. But don't worry, I'll come by soon, and we'll have a party at Mako."

"Good!" I could hear her that smile in her voice. "Shoot. Lewis is coming. I gotta go. See ya Hayley, and have fun with your brother."

I got up from the couch and started walking to the kitchen. "See ya soon," I said as I looked down and hung up the phone. Once I hit the end button, I crashed into a mass of muscle and felt soda being poured down on me.

I stood there, shocked. I was drenched, head to toe. _Oh shit, oh shit. This is not good! _"I'm so sorry," I could hear one of the say.

"Nice one Quil!" another one of them shouted. So it was Quil that spilled this all over me.

My mouth was hanging open, and I shook my hands trying to get the soda off. Once I got out of my daze, I dashed up the stairs. Taking two at a time, I raced for the bathroom.

_7...6...5..._

"Hayley! Where are you going!" I heard Sam call as I ran up the stairs.

"Ummm...to dry off!"

"But there are towels down here!"

"Oh well, I'm already up here!"

_4...3...2..._

I opened the door and slammed it shut once I got inside. I think it even rattled the house. I turned around and realized how small of a bathroom this was. I didn't even know if I was going to fit! I reached for the door handle to go into my room, but it was too late.

The familiar sensation came upon me as my legs turned into a tail, and I lost my balance, falling to the ground. A loud thud could be heard throughout the house, and I banged my head against the wall.

I was right, I could barely fit. And that's when I heard the footsteps baring up the stairs. Whatever I did, I had to keep them out.


	5. First Glimpse

_thanks so much everyone for all the reviews! they really make my dayy :D_

_so since today's my birthday (7/11), I've decided to update all of my stories (maybe multiple times :) ) as kind of a birthday presentt for my readers/reviews_

_enjoy!_

* * *

(Jacob POV)

We all heard the loud bang that came from upstairs, and we knew that it was from Hayley. I was the first one racing up the stairs to make sure that she was alright. She better not have gotten hurt.

"Hayley! Are you alright?" I yelled.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" she called.

"We're coming in, Hale," Sam said from behind me.

"NO!" she screamed as Sam tried to open the door. He pushed, but it wouldn't budge! What the hell? Sam can lift freaking cars up, but he can't open a flimsy door?

"Come on Sam," Paul laughed. "It can't be that hard to open the door. Let me try." Sam moved away with a growl and Paul tried to open the door.

It budged a little and Paul whooped in celebration. "Told you I could get it!"

I looked in the bathroom and saw a glimpse of something orange. What the hell? Sam and Emily hate the color orange. Why would they have something of that color in the bathroom?

"Stop it you guys! Seriously! Can't I get any privacy?" Hayley called after she slammed the door shut again.

"Come on guys. Just let her be," I said.

"Ooo, Jacob here is getting protective of his impr..." Embry teased before Sam hit him in the stomach.

"I told you before. I don't want her knowing anything about that," Sam whispered to Embry.

The door opened and Paul caught it before it hit him. He started shaking a little, but calmed down within seconds. He really needed anger management classes. Sam straightened himself up as he pulled himself away from Embry's face.

"Should I warn Emily about your and Embry's relationship?" Hayley said to Sam as she walked out of the door.

"No, you really don't have to do that," Sam said and went to engulf her in a hug. She smiled at him, and I noticed something different about her. She was dry! She was soaking wet before. There was no way that she could have dried her whole body and her clothes in five minutes.

"Weren't you just soaking wet before?" Embry asked. I guess I wasn't the only one that noticed.

"Umm..." she said looking down at herself. "Yeah...but I dried off, so it's all good."

"Sure..." Quil said looking sceptic.

"Yeah, so ummm...let's go back downstairs," Hayley said, and she bolted down the stairs.

We all stayed upstairs though. I walked into the bathroom, and sure enough, there was nothing orange in there. I walked back out, confused.

"Did anyone else see something orange when Paul opened the door?"

They all nodded their heads. "But we don't have anything orange in there, and Hayley wasn't wearing anything orange," Sam said.

"I know. What do you think it was?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out," Sam said, determined. He walked down the stairs, and the rest of us followed.

* * *

(Hayley POV)

"Yeah, so umm...let's go back downstairs," I said, heading down the stairs back to the kitchen.

Right then I was so thankful that our tails were strong. The only way that I was able to keep the door shut was because I pushed my tail against it. If they weren't, then my brother and all of his friends would have figured out that I'm a mermaid. And that would not be good. I didn't need another incident like with Dr. Denman.

But they were so close to opening the door. I think one of them saw my tail. Hopefully they wouldn't call it out on me, though.

Thank God I had Rikki's power, too. Being able to evaporate the water on my body and tail was the only way that I could get all of the water off of me before the guys eventually barged in on me.

Each mermaid gets a certain power, or a certain set of powers. Emma has the power to freeze water, and manipulate clouds, ice and snow. Cleo has the power to control the amount of water there is, manipulate water, and control the wind. Rikki has the power to heat water and control fire and lightening.

I had all of those powers. Lewis and I were trying to figure out why that was, and we have a theory that each moon pool can give off a certain set of powers to a mermaid.

Since Cleo, Rikki, and Emma all became mermaids at the same time in the same moon pool, they had to share the three sets of powers. However, since I went into the moon pool during the next full moon and I was the only one there, I didn't have to share the powers with anyone, and I got all of the powers.

"Hey Emily," I said, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey. You alright? I heard a loud crash before and then all the guys ran upstairs," she said, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I jumped up on the counter and took a soda. I opened it up as the guys came barging down the stairs.

"So Hayley, what did you do up there? You sounded like you hit something pretty hard." I looked over at the doorway and saw Embry come in.

"I didn't do anything. Don't worry about it." I could feel my head pounding, though, from where I hit my head on the wall.

"Aww, are you just a clumsy person?" Quil teased.

"A little bit," I said, shrugging. Even though I was, they didn't need to know the real reason why I fell.

Sam came in last and said, "Alright, everyone out. It's 10. Hayley, you need to go get ready for school tomorrow, and everyone else needs to leave."

"Yes, Mom" I teased.

"Shut up, Hale," he said.

I jumped off the counter and started heading towards the staircase again. When I was halfway there, I had a realization and came running back into the kitchen. "Wait! How am I supposed to get to school tomorrow?"

"Shit. I'm really sorry, but I can't drive you," he said, running his hands through his hair. He was stressed, and I knew it.

"I can!" Jacob offered. I was surprised. I barely knew him, and yet he was offering to drive me? Something weird was going on here.

"Alright?" I said, confused. "So, I'm just gonna go upstairs and go to bed. See ya."

I heard a chorus of byes as I walked up the stairs. After I changed out of my clothes and into my pajamas, I climbed into bed and mentally prepared myself for the awkward car ride tomorrow morning.


	6. Accidents Happen

_hey everyone! thank you so much for you reviews and happy birthdays :) they really make my day!_

_so i'm going to be away for the next week, so i'm going to put up two chapters today - 1 now and the other 1 later_

_review please! :) and enjoy!_

* * *

"Hayley! Wake up! Now!" I heard Sam call.

"I'm up, I'm up," I mumbled into my pillow. Beds being this comfy should be a sin. I did not, in anyway, want to get out of bed.

"Up!" Sam pulled the covers off of me and the light being switched on blinded me.

"Good grief! A little warning next time?" I said. I watched him walk out of the room and heard him go down the stairs.

I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and do my hair, careful to not get any water on me. I straightened my hair, braided the front part of my hair across the top of my head, and 15 minutes later I headed back to my room.

I put on my light wash skinny jeans and slipped on my cowboy boots over them. I grabbed the first shirt that I could find, which was a long, dark blue top from Charlotte Russe, and put it on. After grabbing my bag, I walked out my door and down the stairs.

"Hey Sam. Hey Emily."

"Hey Hayley," they both said.

Emily got up and got me pancakes from the stove. She placed them in front of me and told me to dig in, which I totally did. I was starving! I was interrupted by the doorbell and Sam went to go answer it. When he came back in, Jacob was with him.

"You ready?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I'm done." I stuffed the last piece of pancake in my mouth, put the dishes in the sink, said bye to Sam and Emily, and followed Jacob to the car. I was greeted with a black rabbit, and Jacob opened the door for me as I headed towards the passenger side.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," he answered as he shut the door and hopped over to the driver's seat.

The car ride was painfully long for me, not gonna lie. It was a twenty minute ride, and for the first ten minutes, the only noise that you could hear was the engine of the car rumbling. I finally decided that I couldn't stand the silence, so I started the conversation.

"So...do you go to the high school in Forks?" Really? You can talk about anything in the world, and you have to talk about school?

"Nah, I go to a school on the reservation with Quil and Embry," he said.

"So how did you become friends with my brother? I mean, there's a big age difference, so I was just wondering."

"Paul and Jared became friends with Sam, and me, Embry, and Quil became friends with Paul and Jared, so we all became friends."

"Gotcha," I said, nodding my head.

We pulled up in the parking lot and Jacob parked in a spot that was close to the school, which was very, very good, because it looked like it was about to rain soon. Did it always look like it was about to rain here?

Once we were parked, I got out of the car and went around back to the trunk to get out my bag. I opened the trunk, took the bag, and closed the trunk. Two huge arms came up on either side of me and grabbed onto my shoulders, and I screamed.

My scream could be heard throughout the parking lot, and everyone was staring over towards our car. "Jacob! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I said. "You just made me give a great first impression. Thanks alot!" I said sarcastically.

"No problem," he laughed. His laugh was beautiful, and to tell you the truth, it was addicting. I wanted to hear more of it.

I wanted to hear more it it? It was addicting? What the hell was happening to me? I didn't fall for someone this easily. I was like Emma; it was hard for me to trust someone. They had to earn my trust, and yet I wanted to trust Jake right now.

I punched him on the arm in an attempt to make him stop laughing, but all I got was a throbbing hand.

"Holy shit!" I seethed. The freaking hurt! I cradled my hand against my chest and let out a searing hiss of pain.

"Hayley?" Jake asked franticly. I looked up and saw deep concern and worry in his eyes. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry, Hale! I'm sorry!" he said as he took my hand gently and looked it over. I felt a shock of electricity go up my arm, and by the look on his face, I knew that he felt it too.

"What are you saying sorry for?" I asked. "I was the one that punched you. It's fine, don't worry 'bout it."

I tried smiling convincing up at him, but I knew that I failed when Jake still seemed both worried and skeptic.

"It's fine, I promise." I took my hand away from his and started walking towards the school. I could hear Jake walking behind me, but the thunder from a storm overhead started to drown out his steps. I had to get out of here, fast.

I started running towards the school when a silver volvo and a red jeep rushed in front of me. I fell backwards onto the pavement on my butt, and my head almost hit the pavement too, except a strong pair of hands caught me before I totally went down.

I looked up and saw Jake standing over me, looking at the two cars that almost crashed into me. He helped me up, and even though I was okay and standing up straight, he still held on to my arm.

Not that I was complaining or anything.

But then he started shaking. And I don't mean a little involuntary shake, but I mean a full tremble went through his body. "Jacob? Jake? Are you alright?"

I didn't get any answer. Instead, he just started shaking more and more when the people from the cars that almost hit me were coming out of them. "Jake! Snap out of it!"

I took a closer look at the people in the cars, and I thought I was imagining them. They were all so freaking gorgeous!

The first one out of the jeep was a blonde, and she was by far the most beautiful. Next to her was this big, buff brunette guy, and he could give the guys in La Push a run for their money in the muscle category. A pixie like girl with short brunette hair came out next, with a blonde dude that reminded me of Paul. The only difference there was that Paul looked like he had anger issues, while this blonde guy looked like he was in pain.

Two people came out of the volvo. One was a gorgeous dirty blonde guy, and the other wasn't as beautiful, but she was still pretty. She was a brunette, and while all of the others were pale, she had some color in her skin.

I looked back at Jake and I saw that he was still shaking. I stepped in front of him and cupped my hands around his face. "Jake? You need to calm down a bit, okay? Don't do anything you'll regret," I said while rubbing circles on his cheek with my hands.

His shaking went down a little bit. "Come on Jake. You just need to calm down a little bit more." I ran my hands through his hair, and he seemed to become more relaxed. As I moved my hands down his arms and he looked at me, he finally stopped shaking. "Good," I said, smiling.

He pulled me into a hug then. I could feel his face in my hair, and my head rested on his chest. He held onto me tight enough so that I wasn't crushed, but I felt protected. I felt like he would do whatever he could to make sure I was alright, and it felt really, really good.

But then reality kicked in. I wasn't like this. I didn't move this fast in relationships. Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the hug. I looked up and I saw him looking down at me. I had the sudden urge to kiss him. No! I do not move this fast.

Luckily for me, the urge disappeared when he looked over at the group of people standing near the jeep. He looked murderous. "Jake, I'm fine. Just don't do anything you'll regret." I took his hand in mine, but he still was glaring at the group of people when lightening flashed overhead. "Jake, I gotta go. I'll see you after school, alright?"

He nodded his head and I ran into the school. I looked out the door and saw it starting to pour. I sighed in relief. I got here just in time.

But then I saw Jake walking over towards the group of people. This was about to get ugly.


	7. The Cullens

_thank you all so much for your reviews! they're amazingg :)_

_the paramore concertt was freaking amazing! so if anyone's going, you're gonna have an awesome timee!_

_and now, enjoy!_

* * *

(Jacob POV)

"What the hell do you think you were doing, leeches?" I growled when I got over to where the vampires and Bella were.

"Driving to school, mutt," Edward said. I hated that stupid, feministic, sparkling, old vampire so much. Edward growled and glared at me, no doubt that he heard what I thought. Good, and I smirked at him.

"Who taught you how to drive? 'Cause you almost ran over Hayley, bloodsucker," I retaliated. "If you hurt her again, I can almost guarantee that you'll have a pack of wolves chasing after you and ripping you to shreds, treaty or no treaty."

"Jacob, stop it," I heard Bella say.

"So, your just standing up for your vampire, eh Bella? Not even caring about another person?"

"What makes this human so special that you and the rest of the wolves will fight us and the treaty will be broken?" Alice asked, crossing her arms. I didn't really mind her. It was just Edward that really bugged me to death, and that ice princess Rosalie.

"She's part of the pack. You hurt her, and we'll hurt you."

"What do you mean part of the pack? I thought that there were no girl werewolves," Bella said, clueless. Didn't you just see what went on back there with us?

Edward widened his eyes. "You imprinted on her."

I stayed rooted to the spot, my eyes still glaring at them. "No duh. And she's Sam's sister too. So I'd watch out if I were you."

Bella walked up to me and grabbed my arm. "Jake? What's imprinting?" I looked down at her.

"It's when you find your soulmate," I said. She slowly took her hand off of my arm, turned around and headed towards the school. I saw her open the door and walk down the hallway, probably heading towards her first period class.

"Look what you did, mutt. You made her run off," Edwards growled.

"I didn't do anything. Now, why don't you follow her lead and run off to your first period class and see if your precious Bella is alright," I sneered.

I was in no mood to be with these bloodsuckers, and if mocking Bella got them away, then fine, I was going to mock her.

Edward was about the lunge at me, and I was about to phase, but Emmet and Jasper held him back. I could feel that leech mess with my moods too.

You really want to fight? Ditch the other bloodsuckers and go into the woods. I knew Edward would read my mind.

With one last glare, Edward took off towards the school, with Alice and Jasper following him, while Emmett and Rosalie went back to the jeep. So I guess that was a no to the fight. They better not give Hayley any trouble, or I swear they will wish they were truly dead.

(Hayley POV)

I stood at the door of the school and watched the group of people and Jake. I really hoped that Jake didn't do anything stupid. It didn't look like he was, but then the girl with the long brunette hair touched Jake.

A pang of jealousy shot in my stomach, and I wanted that girl to get away from him. I was ecstatic that she actually did. She headed towards my direction, and when she opened the door, she stared at me.

She looked sad and depressed, like she lost something. Her eyes looked hopeless. Did Jake say something to her? I was about to ask her if she was okay, but she walked away before I could open my mouth.

I turned back to the window and saw the rain pouring outside. The sound of the rain hitting the roof resounded through the school, and it looked like it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. The group of people were about to come in the school, and I saw that Jake was leaving. I didn't want to meet them, so I sped off to the office.

I opened the door and saw an old lady sitting at the desk. I walked up to her and awkwardly said, "Hi. I'm Hayley Uley."

"Hi honey! I'll be with you in a minute," she said. She turned around and got a manilla folder from behind her. I noticed that it had my name on it, and then she turned back around.

"Alright honey. This is your schedule, and you need to have each teacher sign this paper when you get to class. At the end of the day return here and give this back to me. Alright?"

"Yup. Do you by any chance have a map of the school?"

"Oh yes! I almost forgot. Here you go," she said, handing me a the map.

"Thanks." I walked out of the room. I looked down at my schedule and saw that I had Chemistry first period. "Great," I drawled to myself.

I didn't really mind Chemistry. Actually, it was one of my best subjects. Its just that I hated having anything to do with science or math this early in the morning.

I looked at the map, and I noticed that the classroom was across the school. Shifting my bag on my shoulder, I took off towards the room. I was the only one if the halls, probably because I was late, as always, and everyone else was in their first period class.

I finally reached the door and opened it. I was greeted with a whole class staring at me. Perfect.

I walked over to the teacher and handed him my slip. He took a pen out of his pocket, signed his name in the box, and then turned to the class. "Everyone, this is Hayley Uley. She moved here from..." He turned to me, realizing that he didn't know the answer.

"Australia," I said.

"Australia," he repeated. He looked down at the paper again. "Aren't you a sophomore?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure that you are supposed to be in this class? This is a senior class."

"Yeah, I'm positive. I took this class back in Australia."

He nodded his head okay. "Now," he said to me, "you can sit next to Alice over there." He pointed to the girl I saw earlier with Jacob that had the short brunette hair.

I shuffled over there, really not wanting to sit there. I looked around the room, trying to find another seat that I might be able to sit in, but just my luck, there was none. So I walked over there and sat in the seat next to Alice.

As I pulled out my chemistry notebook, I could see from the corner of my eye that she was looking strangely at me. Did I have something on my face? I quickly wiped my face, and she laughed at me, but she didn't stop looking.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. She must have noticed, because she looked away. But before I could get comfortable, she turned back my way and said cheerfully, "Hi. I'm Alice!"

"Hayley," I said, smiling. At least she was nice.

"So what brings you to rainy Forks from sunny Australia?"

I noticed that the teacher was starting the lesson on moles. I already covered that back in Australia. No need to learn it again. "My mom and my brother. Well, actually step-brother," I whispered to her. "My mom got a new job in Port Angeles, and my brother lives here, so we moved."

"Do you like it here?"

"I like it, except for the rain. Does it always rain here?"

She looked out the window and nodded her head. "Almost everyday."

"Ugh..." My head fell into my hands. Perfect. Just perfect. I just had to move here, didn't I? This was going to be hell for me. How was I supposed to keep my secret if it rained every single freaking day?

"You okay?" she asked.

"Perfect. Just peachy," I said sarcastically.

"You don't like rain?"

"Hate it."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Didn't know that it rained this much here, or trust me, I would be living with Cleo right now back in sunny Australia."

"Girls!" I heard the teacher call. "Can one of you answer the problem?"

I looked at the board and saw that it was asking the molar mass of H2O. Ironic, it you ask me. "18.0148 grams," I said, almost immediately. This was the most common molar mass that we used in chemistry, so we were pretty much required to memorize it back in Australia.

"Good," he said. "But actually pay attention next time, alright?"

I nodded my head, and I didn't talk to Alice for the rest of that boring period. A few minutes before the bell ran, I saw Alice take a look at my schedule. I ignored it, but after the bell rang, she grabbed my arm before I could leave.

"Hey, we have the same lunch. Do you want to sit with us?"

"Sure," I said happily. At least I wasn't going to be a loser and sit alone at lunch.

"Okay, see you then," she said as she walked out the door.

"Bye," I said. As she looked back, I noticed something that I didn't notice before, but I probably should have. She had golden eyes. That was weird. Did she have contacts or something?

I pushed that out of my mind and headed towards my second period class, determined to ask her about it during lunch. I opened the door to my History II room, and the whole class stared at me again. Just great.

At least I had lunch to look forward too.


	8. Can 1st Impressions Do That Much Damage?

_please read this! I know that a lot of people don't read author's notes, but this one is kind of important/informative_

_hey everyone!_

_thank you all so much for the fantastic reviews! every time I open my inbox and see review alerts, I get so excited :) thanks to everyone who put this story on story alert and favorite story too!_

_there is some foul language in here, just to let some of my younger readers know. however, it's not incredibly bad_

_so i'm not going to be near a computer for about the next three weeks since we're going out of state to my brother's baseball tournament and then we're going down to disney with my whole family for our vacation, so I decided to upload two chapters today, and hopefully it will tie you over until i'm near a computer again!_

_also, I made a trailer for this story and uploaded it to youtube. the link is **www**(dot)**youtube**(dot)**com/watch?v=1ZpMYSwkHf0** , just replace the (dot) with real dots haha and be careful, because it does have spoilers if you don't want to know what might happen later in the story_

_enjoy! and thanks to everyone again! :)_

* * *

_"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."_

_- unknown_

After History, I had Algebra II, and then ceramics before I went to lunch. I walked through the door, and surprise! Everyone stared at me. It was like they were all obsessed with the new girl.

I saw Alice wave over at me from a table in the back, and I headed over to it. Everyone had their mouths hanging open when they saw where I was headed. Was something wrong with sitting with them?

The blonde guy that looked like he was always in pain was there, along with the dirty blonde guy and the brunette girl. Alice whispered something to them, and I could see them focusing on me. But a few seconds later, they looked at me strangely. What was with this family and the way that they looked at me?

I sat down next to Alice and took out my lunch that Emily made me. "Hayley," Alice said, and I looked over at her. "This is Jasper, Edward, and Bella." She pointed at the blonde, the dirty blonde, and the brunette.

"Hi. I'm Hayley," I said. I looked over at the places in front of them and noticed that only Bella had food. "Don't you guys eat?"

"Nah, we don't get that hungry in school," Alice said. "Oh, and sorry about what happened this morning. We didn't see you there."

"It's alright. It seemed like Jake gave you enough hell, so I won't add to it."

After I said that, I dug into my lunch. No one talked, and to tell you the truth, it was really awkward. I took out the brownie that Emily made, and when I ate it, it tasted like heaven. She was such a good cook!

"Did Emily make that?" I heard someone ask.

I looked up and saw Bella staring at me. "Yeah," I answered.

"She's a really good cook."

"I know. She makes amazing food." I took another bite before I said, "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know her?"

Bella closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there were unshed tears. "Jake was my best friend, and we used to hang out a lot. We went over Emily's a few times, and whenever she was there, she would always make the best food."

"So then what happened?"

Bella paused. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"That's fine," I said, but I really wanted to know. Maybe I would ask Jake about it.

"So, why don't you stop over at our place after school?" Alice said, breaking the silence.

"Alright. Sounds good to me," I said. "I just gotta text Sam and tell him I'm not gonna be home. I'll be right back, alright?" There was no need to tell them I had to text Jake too, and not just Sam, especially after the waterworks that I got from Bella when he was mentioned.

I pulled my Envy out of my backpack and got up from the table. As I was walking away, I could hear them muttering something about me.

"Why did you ask her to come?" I could hear Edward say.

"Because I want Carlisle to check something. If she can..." By that point I was out of hearing range and I couldn't hear what Alice said.

I walked out of the cafeteria and turned on my phone. When it turned on, I went to my messages and sent a text to Sam, and then to Jake.

_hey jake. just wanted to let you know that you don't need to pick me up after school. i'm hanging out with a few friends._

They wanted me to text both of them for some reason. I thought it would be easier to just text one person if I had a change of plans, but it seemed like they both wanted to know where I was.

As expected, I didn't get a text back from Sam, but I did get one from Jake.

**_okay. who are you hanging out with?_**

_just some people i met today. dont worry bout it_

**_alright. see you later then_**

_see ya_

I walked back into the cafeteria and sat back down in my chair. With the bell about to ring in a few minutes, I gobbled down my food and finished just in time. The bell rang, and we all parted ways to go to our classes.

* * *

By the end of the day, I was extremely tired. I guess first days of school did that to you. I had no classes with Jasper, Alice, Bella, or Edward, since they were all seniors, except for Chemistry with Alice. I talked a few people, like Hannah Lien and Cameron Swatcher, but I was mostly alone all day. I tried talking to people, but all they did was stare at me. So I guess I was becoming friendless here.

I found Alice waiting by the silver volvo, and when she saw me, she called me over. I hopped into the back seat next to Bella and Alice, while Jasper and Edward sat in front, and we drove off.

Edward were driving like a maniac, I can tell you that for sure! I could kinda see how he almost crashed into me. Luckily, we didn't get into any crashes, and within 10 minutes, we were at the house.

I stepped outside, and was in awe at what I saw. "Holy shit. That is one big house," I said as I stared up at it.

"I know, but we love it," Alice said. She smiled and grabbed my hand. I flinched at touch from her freezing hand, but if she noticed, she didn't let me know. "C'mon. I want you to meet my family."

I followed Alice inside the huge house, and the inside was beautiful. She dragged me up the stairs and to their living room. Edward, Jasper, and Bella were already sitting on the couch, and four more people were heading towards us.

"Hayley, this is my mom Esme, my dad Carlisle, and my brother and sister Emmett and Rosalie," Alice said to me as she introduced each one.

I smiled and said hi to everyone. Most of them were seemed really nice, except for Rosalie. She gave me a hard glare and marched back up the stairs. What was her problem? Emmett looked back at her, probably wondering whether or not he should follow her, but he stayed in the room with us.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Esme asked.

"Yeah, that would be great. I'm starving. Thanks," I said and started to follow Esme into the kitchen.

"Didn't she just have that whole lunch?" I heard Alice ask.

"Yeah, but what do you expect? She's that worthless mutt's sister," Edward said, and boy, did that make me mad.

"Excuse me?" I pretty much yelled, whipping around and facing Edward. "Do you mind telling me what you called my brother?"

"He didn't say anything about Sam, Hayley," Alice lied, trying to calm me down.

"Oh, don't stand up for him. If Edward's a big boy, then I'm pretty sure that he can stand up for himself. Unless of course, he needs someone to fight his battles for him," I sneered.

"Don't talk to Alice like that," Jasper growled.

"Then you can tell your brother to shut the fuck up about my brother. He doesn't need to be trash talking him," I fumed.

"Like Alice said, I didn't say anything, bitch," Edward snapped. Ha, Sam's a mutt, and I'm a bitch. Good one Edward.

I really hope that you caught on to the sarcastic mood.

"Oh, don't lie to me you little bastard," I said.

Bella jumped up and was in my face in an instant. "Don't call him a bastard! He let you into his home, so he doesn't need to be treated that way!" she yelled at me.

"Umm, excuse me for standing up for my own family. I guess you don't have that good of a relationship with yours, because otherwise you would see what I'm getting at. And besides, I think he deserves to be called a bastard. He calls my brother a worthless mutt, and then lies about it. I think that's a pretty good reason to be called that," I growled.

That hit something in her, because in the next second, she was out the door. "Nice going. You and that dog are both alike, making Bella run out," Edward sneered at me before following her.

What the hell was his problem? And why did he keep calling my brother a dog? Or was he talking about someone else?


	9. Protective much?

_hey everyone! _

_so, like I promised, this is the second chapter :)_

_enjoy! _

* * *

I was still fuming when Esme called out to me.

"Come on, let's go in the kitchen," Esme said as she walked into the kitchen. I followed her and found her making a salad. Guilt instantly consumed my body. She was only being nice to me, and I just created a whole fight within her family.

"I'm really, really sorry about that," I said to Esme. "I'm usually not like that, but when they started talking about Sam, I snapped."

"Hey don't worry about it," a voice said from behind me. I yelped and turned around and saw Emmett behind me. When he heard my scream, he laughed. "Do you get scared easily? But anyway, Edward just PMS's sometimes. That, and he can't shut his big mouth when it comes to anything to do with Bella and your brother and his friends. Don't blame yourself."

He jumped up on the counter and started kicking his legs on the counter behind him. He was so child-like! But it made me happier. "I guess," I said. "But I still feel really bad. And why just my brother and his friends?"

"Like I said, don't. And they didn't really have a good first impression on each other. Neither of them like the other."

I nodded my head. I guess that made sense.

"So anyway, I heard that you just moved her. Where'd you move from?" he asked.

"Australia."

"Australia? A bit of a change in scenery, don't you think?"

"Tell me about it. I wish I was back in the sun right now," I said, throwing my hands up and twirling around.

"Aw, come on. Rainy Forks isn't that bad, is it?"

"Eh, I'll tell you later how I think of it, once I get a better impression of this town."

"But doesn't knowing me make it a whole lot better?"

"Actually, it's one of the things that makes me not like it," I teased. I started to laugh once Emmett started to fake pout. It was really cute, and he made me forget about what happened in the living room before.

"Here you go, Hayley," Emse said as she handed me my salad.

"Thanks," I said. I took a bite out of it, and the lettuce filled my mouth as I continued to eat. "It's really good," I said between bites. Both Emmett and Esme laughed as lettuce fell out of my mouth and back into my bowl.

After she finished cleaning up, Esme left the kitchen and went back out in the living room. I heard her start talking to Carlisle and Alice, but they went into the other room before I could understand anything that they were saying.

I finished my salad and looked at the time. Seeing that it was 4:30, and that I also didn't want to see Bella or Edward again, I decided that I should probably go.

"I'm going to go now," I said to Emmett as I put my bowl in the sink.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. No offense, but I don't wanna see Edward or Bella again."

"Then I'll drive you back," he said, reaching for the car keys.

"Nah, you don't have to. I kinda just want to walk home," I said.

"Alright. See you later Hale."

"Bye Em!" I yelled back to him as I started to head towards the front door. When I reached the front door, I turned back and I saw Carlisle looking at me with weird expression on his face.

I just shrugged it off though, and continued out the front door. I walked down their incredibly long driveway and started down the road. I wanted to go for a swim, so I decided to go to that beach that I saw when I was driving to school with Jake.

After 45 minutes of walking, I finally reached the beach. I dropped my bag, and before I had a chance to take off my boots, I felt a buzzing in my pocket. I reached in and took out my phone. Pressing the accept button, I said hello to the person on the phone.

"Hey Hale. It's Jake. Sam and I were just wondering where you were."

"I'm by the beach. I wanted to take a swim. I'll be home soon though, kay?"

"Okay. You alright, though? You sound tense," he asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine. I just had a fight with some people."

"Who?" he growled.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll talk to you 'bout it later, alright?"

"Fine," he said, but I could tell that he was still mad.

"Bye Jake."

"Bye Hale."

I hung up the phone, took off my boots, and ran towards the water. I dived into the waves and and bolted through the water. It felt so nice to be swimming again, and I was so glad that they had the ocean next to La Push. It was like my second home.

I had the biggest urge to go back to Australia. I really wanted to see Rikki, Emma, and Cleo. But I knew that I would get in major trouble with Sam, and I still had to see if I would be able to make the trip. Hopefully I would be able to go to Australia soon though, whether by plane or by ocean.

After an hour of swimming, I decided that Sam was probably wondering were I was, so I got out, dried myself off, and headed back home.

30 minutes later I was walking through the front door of the brown house.

"Hey! I'm home!" I dropped my bag on the ground and headed for the kitchen.

The group of boys that were here yesterday were all sitting around the table joking around with each other. I could see Emily and Sam in the kitchen, taking food out of the oven and getting ready to bring it out to the table.

"Hey Hale! Go and sit wherever you want. We'll be there with the food in a second!" Emily called out.

I looked at the table and saw three seats open - two at the end of the table next to each other, and the other next to the boys. I thought that Emily and Sam would want to sit next to each other, so I took that only one left.

I sat down at the seat and Emily came out with the food. Jake was to the right of me, Paul to the left, and Embry right across from me. I looked over at Jake, who was talking with Quil. I immediately felt happier, and a big smile was on my face. I don't know how he does it, but he just makes me happier by being next to him.

I looked over and saw Embry wiggle his eyebrows at me and then look over at Jake.

"Oh, shut up, Em" I said.

"But I never said anything!" he defended.

I raised my eyebrows at him, and he started laughing.

"Oh, shut up, Hale!" he mimicked with this high-pitched girly voice. What the hell? That's not how I sound!

Is it? Oh God, I hope not.

"I don't sound anything like that! You forgot my accent," I said, smugly. He might have been able to convince me that I sounded like that, but there was no way that he could convince me that he did my accent right.

"Dammit! I forgot you had an Australian accent!" He pouted and I couldn't help but laugh!

"Are you serious? Have I really been talking to you that much so that you don't notice my accent anymore?"

He scowled at me.

"How 'bout this? You try to talk like an Aussie for the rest of the night, and if you do it, then I won't make fun of you anymore for trying to mimic me. Deal?"

"Deal." He tried to grab my hand to shake on it, but I snatched it away at the last second. He scrunched his eyebrows together and look confused.

"Let's make this more interesting," I said. At this point, everyone was listening.

"How?"

"We'll make another dare. This one's to boring!"

"What dare do you want to do?"

"You like to eat, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then we'll do something with that. Well, technically not eating, but drinking."

"Perfect," he said. He was smiling like an idiot, and anyone could tell that he was overconfident that he would win. Well, we'll see about that.

"So what do you want to loser to do?" I asked.

Embry scrunched his eyebrows together and thought about it for a while, but seeing as he couldn't think of a good idea, Jared whispered something in his ear. A huge smile broke out on his face. "Perfect," he whispered.

"What is it?" I said, excited. I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat. I was so ready for this bet.

"If I lose, I have to dress up as a girl and hit on a boy, and if you lose, you have to dress up as a boy and hit on a girl." He was so confident in this. I think I'll just have to knock that ego down.

I hear Jake growl beside me. Growl? How could he even growl? And why was he being so... animalistic?

"This is gonna be fun. Deal." This time, I didn't take my hand away.


	10. Lying Isn't All That Bad

_hey everyone! i'm SO sorry that this is such a late update! but my family and I went on vacation for two and a half weeks, and then i had to catch up on my summer work, so unfortunately I couldn't update sooner :(_

_thank you all SO much for the reviews and the alerts! 32 reviews, 22 favorites, and 14 alerts? i love you guys! they truly make my day :D and thank you for those you watched the trailer too!_

_enough of my rambling, enjoy! :)_

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_"If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time."  
~Chinese Proverb_

Emily and Sam brought the food while everyone started laughing at us for what they called a "stupid bet."

"Sorry Hayley, but there is no way that you're going to win this!" Paul said. I punched him in the arm, lightly of course, especially after what happened before with Jake, and stuck my tongue at him.

"Says you. Don't underestimate me." I didn't get it. Sam told me that Paul had this huge anger management problem, but he really didn't seem like a bad guy.

I got up from the table and headed towards the kitchen. Before I walked out of the room, I turned back to the group. "Anyone else want to join in on the bet?"

I didn't expect anyone to join in, and I was right. It was just me and Embry.

"Embry's an eating machine!" Jared called out. "No one here eats or drinks faster than him! Be prepared Hale!"

"I'm not worried," I said, smirking. "You don't have any allergies, right Embry?"

Embry shook his head no.

"Good," I said right before I walked into the kitchen. I took the blender that was lying on the counter and looked in the fridge. Oh, I was gonna make him throw up on this one. Living next to the Juice Net Cafe and having Emma work there really was beneficial for me now. I made up the perfect combination. I was pretty sure that I could take it, but could he?

After putting in pickles, ketchup, mustard, strawberries, and a few other things that I highly doubt anyone would want to know, I turned the blender on and waited for it to become liquid enough for us to drink.

I almost puked as I was pouring it into two cups. It was this disgusting yellow color with a few spots of brown and red. I made sure that the drinks were equal so that I wouldn't be called out on cheating.

Ah, what the heck. I decided to have a little fun with it. I froze the middle of both drinks. He would never be able to get it thawed in time for him to win. I could always show him that mine was frozen too, proving that neither of us had an unfair advantage, and then I could melt mine again, which would guarantee me the win.

I probably would actually never do that - I was too much of a goody-goody to cheat - but it would be fun to mess with Embry.

I took both of the drinks and headed out towards the table. When I walked in, there was pretty much no food left on the table.

"Hey! I don't get any food?" I complained.

"Nah," Jake said as he was finishing up his plate. "We all saved some for you."

"Sure you did. The scraps. Thanks a lot," I mumbled. Everyone laughed. "Thanks for showing some sensitivity, guys!" They only laughed harder.

I sat down in my chair and gave the cup to Embry. "There you go, hun," I said with an overly happy smile on my face.

"Did you do something to this?" he asked warily.

"Nah. Why would you think that?"

He stared at me long and hard, before he finally believed me.

"Okay," I said. "So the first one to finish their drink is the winner. Got it?"

He nodded his head.

"Ready, set, go!"

I gulped down my first sip and I almost wanted to throw up. It was disgusting! I mean, me and Rikki used to do this all of the time, but nothing ever tasted this bad!

I guess Embry thought that it was disgusting too, because he literally spit the stuff onto his plate.

"What the hell did you put into this Hale?"

I stopped drinking and coughed. "I don't know. Stuff?"

"It's disgusting!"

"I know," I laughed. "That's the point!"

"How are you even drinking that!"

I shrugged. "I guess I just have a strong stomach."

"Strong stomach, my ass," he mumbled.

"Would you like to try it to make sure that its the same?"

He nodded his head and grabbed the drink out of my hand. Sucker!

He took a big gulp and almost spit the thing out onto me. Ew! He nodded his scrunched up face, indicating that he thought it was the same.

"Thanks Embry," I said as I continued to drink it.

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For drinking part of my drink," I smirked.

His jaw dropped down and the guys around me started laughing.

"Oh, she got you good Em!" Jared teased.

We continued drinking our drinks with the boys and Emily cheering for us. Emily, Jake, and Jared were rooting for me, while Quil, Paul and Sam were rooting for Embry.

"Come on Embry, go!"

"Drink faster Hale!"

"Drink Embry! Drink!"

"Go! Go! Go!"

By this point we each got to the frozen part of our drink. I just stopped drinking while Embry was trying to make his drink come out.

"It's not coming out! What the heck is wrong with this?" he said.

I started laughing in my hand, and Jacob looked over at me with a knowing look. I innocently shrugged my shoulders, and went back to watching Embry. Jake would never figure out how I really did it. Embry had his eyes closed and he was bumping the bottom of the cup, trying to get the drink out.

A smirk formed on my face, and I decided that I would help Embry out.

In my own way of course.

I melted the top layer of the frozen drink, and when he hit the bottom one more time, part of his drink came tumbling out and onto his face. Now he didn't have to drink some of his either! Told you I would help him.

The whole group started laughing at him, and Embry put his drink down in shock. I melted both of our drinks now, and while he was in his daze, I started to finish my drink.

Embry noticed, and started gulping down his drink, but I still finished before him.

I slammed my drink down and Embry shot his head up. His eyes widened with shock and fear. I won and he would have to do his part of the bet!

"Looks like I won, Em," I said with a smirk. "We'll set a date, and I'll give you clothes and do your makeup, and you'll look just like a girl!" I grinned at him.

"No, no, no, no," he mumbled into his hands. Everyone around him was laughing and slapping him on the back.

"Here, I'll help you and take this back," I said. I grabbed both of the drinks and walked into the kitchen. I set the drinks down in the sink and was about to walk back to the table when I saw Jake leaning against the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room.

"I can't believe that you beat Embry. Nobody has ever lost an eating bet with him. He's like our own personal trashcan," he laughed.

"What can I say?" I shrugged. "I've just had tons of practice."

"Practice?"

"Me and my friend Rikki would do this all of the time back at the Juice Net Cafe. Amazing bets, if I do say so myself."

"If you say so," he said. "But then what happened with Embry's drink?"

"What do you mean?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"You're a horrible liar, Hale." Huh? I thought I was a pretty good liar. I mean, it's already been a year and no one has ever found out our secret by thinking that we lied.

"I'm not lying."

"You're lying right now," he said smugly.

"How would you know?" I asked, my eyebrow raised.

"You always bite your lip when you lie."

My eyes widened. Ah, shit. Not even my friends or family noticed that, except for Cleo. How did he notice that? I guess I have lied to the guys a few times - okay, maybe more than a few times - but how did he know that I bit my lip when I lied? Then again, I did say that I hated swimming to him one time, and I did bite my lip when I told him that, and then I went swimming earlier today. And then there was like one more time when he caught me on my lie.

Although, it was kinda cute that he was paying that much attention to me. I knew that I was starting to have a huge crush on him. But did I really want a boyfriend right now? All the relationships that Emma and Cleo had failed because of our secret. Would this one fail too?

"But I don't mind, Hale. I actually think it's cute."

I could feel my face heat up and I looked away before he could notice my blush. He chuckled though, so I guess he did notice.

My whole body warmed up when he came over. "I think it's really cute when you blush too, Hale," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled slightly. When I noticed that he left, my small smile turned into a full out grin.


	11. Fear the Unknown

_hey everyone!_

_I am soo sorry that this is extremely late! school just started and my teachers are piling everything on already. so thank you to those of you who are sticking with me :) i appreciate your support and your reviews!_

_I've posted an extra long chapter as a gift for being so late with updating, so I hope that it will tie you over :) enjoy!_

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"_Fear is only as deep as the mind allows"_

_- Japanese Proverb_

It was another couple of hours before the guys left. We talked and fooled around, and it was amazing how comfortable I felt around them. They all seemed like my family now. Not a very close one, but there's still some of that feel to it.

I went upstairs and brushed my teeth, changed into my pajamas, and went into my bed. It took me a while, at least an hour, to start to fall asleep. But right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a light tap against my window.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself.

I groggily got up and walked over to the window. My eyes were all blurry, so I couldn't really see anything. As I got closer, I faintly saw an outline of a person, but then it disappeared. I opened the window to see if something was there, but I didn't see anything.

I turned around and started walking to my bed, leaving the window open. After taking a few steps, I heard a person jumped through and landed on my floor. I was about to scream, but the person covered my mouth. I looked up and my eyes widened.

"Jake?" I whispered as he let go of my mouth. He nodded his head and closed the window.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as he went to go sit on my bed and lean against the headboard.

"You said that you would tell me what happened, so I'm here to listen," he said.

"I didn't mean now!" I exclaimed as I sat down next to him.

"Well, I'm here, so now's a perfect time to tell."

"You're unbelievable Jake," I laughed. A smile broke out on his face too.

"But tell me. Now," he said sternly. I gave in.

"So you know how I went over to the Cullens, right?" He nodded his head. "So I was going into the kitchen with Esme because she was going to make some food 'cause I was starving. Then Alice comments about how I just ate the whole lunch that Emily made me, and then Edward's all like what do you expect? She's that worthless mutts sister. And then we got into a whole argument where he called me a bitch and Sam a dog. Perfect combination, a bitch and a dog, don't you think?" I laughed humorlessly. "I mean, granted, I called him a bastard, but he started the whole thing."

I looked up and saw Jake's eyes clouded over. His hands started shaking, just like when they started shaking at school. "Jake? You okay?" I asked. He turned to look at me, and his eyes returned to normal.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Is that everything that happened?"

"Everything that happened with the Cullens," I said.

"What else happened?" He was so concerned about me, but why? I've only known him for a few days.

"It just kinda hit me that I'm never really going to see my friends again if I stay here, you know? And its not like I made any friends here at school. I tried, but it seemed like they had no interest in me. I just miss them, a lot," I said.

Tears started forming in my eyes. l tried to wipe them away, but they just wouldn't stop coming. Jake put his arm around me at first, but as my crying became harder, he pulled me into his arms and onto his lap. I leaned my head against his chest, and my tears soaked through his shirt. I snaked my arms around his neck and began to sob.

We stayed like that until my crying stopped. I pulled my head from his chest and looked down at his shirt. "Sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For crying in front of you like a baby and ruining your shirt."

"Don't worry 'bout it. It's just water, and crying in front of people doesn't mean your a baby, Hale."

"I know, but still." I wiped my eyes and could feel my mascara smudged along the bottom of my eyes. I put my hands in my lap and leaned my head against his chest. Heat was burning through his shirt. I never noticed it before, but he was _hot. _Like fever hot.

He grimaced when he saw me flinch away from him heat. I looked up at him. "Why are you so hot?"

He chuckled. "I'm flattered that you think that."

I blushed and looked down. "No, I...well, I mean...you are, but...Ahh, I meant temperature wise."

I felt him tense. "I've always had a higher body temperature. Genetics"

"That's really strange," I said.

"I know," he said emotionlessly. A silence came over between us, but this time, it wasn't awkward. I smiled inwardly to myself.

"So," he said. "Tell me about your friends from Australia."

"Emma is incredibly organized and competitive, and she likes everything in control. I've known her since I was three, but for the past year I've gotten to become best friends with her. Then there's Rikki. She's strong-willed and is probably the most rebellious out of us. She just moved to my old town about a year ago. And then there's Cleo. She's been my best friend since forever. She's a little shy, but she's amazing once you get to know her."

"Wow," he said. "You four are all so different. How'd you all become friends?"

"We had, umm, an accident, and we just bonded over that," I said as I bit my lip. Shoot! I really needed to stop biting it!

I don't think that he noticed though, as he just nodded his head. And if he did, he ignored it. "Not going to tell me the accident?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. A small smile was on his face.

"Nope," I said, popping the p. I smiled at him.

I looked up into his eyes, and I could see him coming closer to me. He closed his eyes as I closed mine, and our lips met.

Kissing him was the best feeling in the world. Everything felt complete, and I had a huge spark go through my body. It was just a I imagined my first kiss; soft, sweet, but still filled with emotion. We stayed like that until we had to come up for air, and he had a big smile on his face. I just looked at him, shocked.

He took my facial expression as one that meant that I didn't enjoy the kiss, so he started freaking out. "Hayley? You alright? God, I knew I did that too soon! What the hell was I thinking? You probably hate me now, and-"

"Jake!" I cut him off.

"Yeah?" He looked down at me. Concern and regret filled his eyes, like he did one of the worst things in the world.

"I didn't hate it. In fact, I loved it," I said. And to prove my point, I kissed him again.

When we came up for air, I said, "As much as I would love to keep doing that, you should probably go so that Sam doesn't find you here."

"Are you trying to kick me out?"

"Of course," I said playfully. He gave me a quick peck on the lips before he got up and disappeared through the window. I closed the window and climbed into bed. That kiss was amazing, and it was the last thing that I thought about before I fell asleep.

_I was walking along the beach making sure that the water didn't touch my feet. It seemed like I was walking forever until I stood to the side of this gigantic hill that overlooked the sea. I peered up and I saw this huge russet brown wolf growling at a girl with red hair. She was holding a lifeless body, and blood was dripping down from the victim's neck. _

_The girl looked at me, and she dropped the body to the ground. The wolf looked at me and his eyes widened. I immediately felt this connection to him. But how do you have a connection to a wolf? He lunged at the girl, but she quickly picked up the body and ran away from the wolf. _

_The wolf looked at me and started running towards me. I was about to run away, but the girl flew in front of me. Her face was right in front of mine, and her red eyes startled me. She pulled up her lips and showed her sharp teeth._

"_You're soon."_

_She dropped the body and ran away. I looked down and screamed when I saw blood covering a man's body. He had teeth marks all over him, and his lifeless eyes looked accusingly at me. _

_Then he started morphing into different people. Cleo, Rikki, Emma, Lewis, my mom, and then Sam. Every time it morphed into a different person, I could feel my heart become more hollow. _

_I heard a howl and I looked up to see the wolf mourning with me. He stopped and looked into my eyes, and his pain-filled eyes reminded me so much of Jake's. _

_The red-haired girl came back again and grabbed a hold of the wolf. She crushed him with her arms. He started whimpering, and then howled in pain. My heart shattered seeing him in pain. The howling stopped, and she let him go. He fell limp on the ground._

_My eyes fell on the body before me. Sam's bloody body morphed again, and this time into Jake. I fell down and let out an anguished scream. Tears streamed down my face and I felt dead._

_The girl came up right in front of me again. "Your wolf's gone. Are you ready to go with him?" She smiled maliciously at me. She grabbed my neck and held me above the ground. "Bye," she said before she closed in on me. _

I shot out of bed. My whole body was covered in sweat. What kind of dream was that? All of my friends were dead. They were killed by that girl. But it didn't mean anything; it couldn't.

It was just a dream, right?

I couldn't get to sleep for the rest of the night, so I lied in my bed until I deemed it late enough to get up. I walked downstairs and saw all of the boys sitting around the table waiting for food, as always.

"Hey Hayley!" they all shouted.

"Hey guys," I said. I walked into the kitchen and asked if Emily needed any help with the food.

"Can you just take it out? Thanks a lot, Hale."

I nodded and grabbed the huge muffins that were lying on the counter. I walked out the door and almost immediately everyone turned and stared at the muffins.

Except for one. Jake was staring at me with a smile in his face. I could feel my face heat up, and there was no doubt that my face was all red. I smiled back at him before I put all the muffins on the table.

I grabbed one right before anyone else did, and I was glad that I did. They were gone ten seconds after I put them on the table! Man, these boys could eat!

I looked around at the boys, and oh my God. They had the most amazing muscles I have ever seen. We had some pretty good abs and muscle in Australia, but these beat those by a lot. I could definitely appreciate these guys and their muscles.

"So," Jared started. "What do you guys want to do today? We don't have..." He glanced over at me for a second but then turned back towards the group. "work... until later, because we've finally gotten a break! Thanks Sam!" he said mockingly. Sam glared at him.

"Cliff diving, anyone?" Paul asked.

"Cliff Diving? Are you all freaking insane?" I screeched.

"Nah," Jared said. "It's one of the biggest thrills ever. You should come with us!"

"I don't think I'll be jumping off a cliff anytime soon."

"Come on! You won't get hurt! Jake won't let anything happen to you," Jared said smugly.

"Yeah come on! Jake will protect you!" Quil said.

I could feel my face heating up again, but I was internally smiling. Screw taking it slow. I really liked Jake, and I seriously hoped that what they were saying was true.

"Shut up guys," Jake growled.

"Aww, come on Jake! You know it's true," Qul said.

Sam looked over at me, and then said, "So do you guys wanna go? Cause now's prolly the best time before it rains and all that crap."

They all shuffled out the door and started walking towards the beach. I noticed that Emily wasn't coming, so I called out to her.

"Hey Em! You coming?"

"Nah, I'm gonna stay here. Kim is coming over in a little while. You'll meet her later. Have fun though!"

I said bye to her and walked out the door. I saw most of the group walking farther down the road, but Jake was waiting for me on the porch.

"Thanks for waiting for me Jake. I seriously don't think I'd be able to find the place by myself."

"Dont worry about it," he smiled at me.

He put his arm around my waist and I leaned into him. "All that stuff that the guys said back there was true Hale. I would never let anything happen to you."

I smiled and leaned in closer.

When we got there, we only walked on the beach for a little while until we started walking in the woods. After that, we got to the cliff. I nudged Jake and he left to go fool around with the guys. They started pushing each other around and a few times some of them almost fell off of the cliff!

I walked over to them. "Do you guys even care that you are almost about to fall to your death?"

"Nah, we never get hurt," Paul said as he as he ran and jumped off the cliff.

I ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Paul looked like as small as an ant by the time he reached the water. "Holy shit..." This cliff was freaking high!

"Ummm, yeah..." I said, slightly shaking as I walked back from the edge of the cliff. I didn't like being this high up without anything to hang onto. Going high on roller coasters I was fine with. I actually really wanted to go to Kingda Ka while I was here in the U.S., but anything else, it was like get me off now. "I think I'll just stay all the way back here."

"You afraid of heights?" Jake asked.

"A little, yeah."

"Dont worry, nothing's gonna happen to you."

I nodded my head, hoping that he was right. By this time, I noticed that everyone had jumped off. Jake smiled at me once, and then jumped off like the rest of them.

A few minutes later, they all came up soaking wet. They were pushing each other around and daring one another to do tricks off of the cliff. They are insane, I can tell you that.

"Come on Hayley! You can do it!" Embry said to me.

"I think I'll sit this one out," I said. I was about to sit down, but Jared starting running towards me. He grabbed me and picked me up. He started heading towards the cliff. That jerk!

The water on his body soaked through my shirt and soaked me. Shit! I had ten seconds to get out of here!

"Jared! You idiot! Let go of me NOW!" I screamed.

"Aww, come on Hale! It'll be fun!"

"Jared! _Now!_"

"Let her go, Jared," Jake growled. He started shaking again.

Jared reluctantly let me go, and I looked around. There was no where for me to go but down that cliff.

Aw, crap! What was I supposed to do?

I guess facing your fears is better than being put into a science lab and being tested on, so I ran away from the boys and jumped of the cliff and into the ocean with rocks that were pointy and sharp and could kill me if I fell on them.

Can anyone tell me why I chose this instead of them finding out that I'm a mermaid?

I felt the cool ocean wrap around me as I fell into the water. The impact really stung my body, but when I became a mermaid, all that pain went away. I was in shock for a few minutes, because I actually never thought that I would jump off of that cliff and still be alive, and yet I did.

I also never thought that one of the boys would come racing into the water after me. But I was wrong then too! Why do I have to be right? I couldn't swim away, because then he would definitely see me, so I turned around and swam behind the corner of the cliff. Oh God, I hope he didn't see me!


	12. Surprises

_holaa! again, sorry for the long wait, but hopefully I'll have more updates sooner now!_

_45 reviews? you guys are amazing!_

_I made a banner for this story one day, so here it is! I hope you all like it! - **http:/www**(dot)**bannerfans**(dot)**com/summerecho11/banner_417405/page_1**_

_twilightjen - they can swim really fast, but the way Hayley's thinking, is that if she swims away, Jake will still be able to see her because he's in the water right now. he'll be able to see her when she's swimming away, even if he can't make out what it is. so she decides not to take the chance and try and hide_

_enjoy!_

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_"That is how life is - full of surprises."  
__-Unknown_

(Jacob POV)

"Jared! You idiot! Let go of me NOW!"

I turned away from Quil and saw that Jared picked up Hayley bridal style and was bringing her over to the side of the cliff.

"Aww, come on Hale! It'll be fun!" he taunted.

"Jared! Now!" she screeched.

At this point I was pissed. There was no way in hell that he should be picking her up and bringing her there! She was fucking afraid of heights! That douche! I started shaking, and I knew that I was gonna phase soon if I didn't calm down or if Jared didn't put her down.

"Let her go, Jared," I growled. He let her down and and she started panicking. What was wrong?

She started running towards the edge of the cliff and before I could stop her, she jumped off. We all ran to the edge of the cliff and watched her dive in.

"You made her do it, Jared! Nice!" Paul high-fived Jared.

We waited a little while until Embry said, "Guys? She's not coming up."

I growled in anger and jumped in after her. My body hit the water and I surfaced to get air. I went back down under and started to look around for her. But there was nothing here.

I started freaking out. Where could she be? Did she drown? My heart started hurting just thinking about it, and a whimper escaped from my mouth. She had to be here, she just had to! I don't know what I would do if she wasn't.

I saw something from the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a huge orange fish tail.

What the fuck?

I swam over to the fish tail. It turned around the corner of the cliff, and I followed it. It stopped when its front part was in a small alcove in the rock of the cliff, and I grabbed onto it's fin. It froze when my hand touched it, and I started to swim closer to it's front. I've never seen anything like it. It looked amazing. I peered in the alcove. Yeah, I know. Not the smartest thing to do, but I was a freaking werewolf. Not much can hurt me except for those damn bloodsuckers.

I saw brown hair floating in the water, and a girl's body that was connected to the fish tail. Wait...

Holy crap! First werewolves, and then vampires, and now freaking mermaids! Is their any other magical creature that exists that I don't know about? I reached into the alcove and touched the mermaid's arm to get her attention. She turned around and I finally got a good look at her.

Holy fucking shit.

Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened when she turned around. I let go of her arm and swam back up to the surface.

Saying that I was in shock would be the understatement of the year. My girlfriend, the person I loved and would do anything for, my imprint, was a freaking mermaid!

But I guess that I can't complain. I'm a werewolf. Maybe this would even make her take the news of werewolves and vampires and imprinting better. When Jared told Kim, it was like hell came and took over Forks. Kim wouldn't talk to Jared, and he became a mess. And then when Sam told Emily, Emily flipped out and wouldn't see him for a while. But that also might be because Sam left Leah for Emily.

Hayley's head broke through the surface of the water. "Jake?"

I tried to, I really did, but I couldn't talk. I was completely speechless. How could I respond to something like this? But I knew it didn't change anything. I still loved her and would protect her no matter what. But it might allow me to convince Sam into telling her about the legends and the werewolves...

"Aw, come on Jake! Say something, anything!"

"Wha-how?"

"Well at least I know that I didn't put you into shock," she mumbled. "Okay, so umm, you do know what I am, right?"

I'm not dumb. "A mermaid." I finally obtained the ability to talk normally again.

"Jake, you gotta promise me that you won't tell anyone. Okay?"

"No, you have to let me tell the guys! Wouldn't telling them make everything easier?" I know for a fact that it would make things easier for me.

"No! Jake, you said you would make sure nothing happened to me. Don't go back on your word now! I can't have anyone else knowing about this, otherwise really bad things can happen, alright? I've already gotten into one encounter with a scientist that wanted to experiment on us. I don't need another one. Please, please,_ please _don't tell," she pleaded.

She really didn't know how much control she had over me, did she? Of course I wouldn't tell anyone if she kept asking like that. I couldn't say no to her. Damn, now I had to keep it from the pack.

"Sure," I said, defeated. "I won't tell anyone. But I really think that you should, Hale. They wouldn't judge you or try and hurt you. You just gotta remember that, okay?"

"I can't tell them, alright? I just can't."

No one talked, but I could tell that Hayley wanted to say something, so I stayed with her until she did.

"So, umm, your not like, repulsed or disgusted or hate me or anything like that?" she asked nervously. She wouldn't look at my face.

I grabbed her chin with my hands and made her eyes meet mine. "Never, Hale. I could never hate you."

She smile the brightest smile that I've ever seen and she pulled me into a big hug. "Oh thank God! I never told anyone about me being a mermaid before. I mean, Rikki and Cleo and Emma have told people, and other people have found out just by themselves - ahh, I really shouldn't be saying any of this, but oh well - but I've always been afraid of what would happen when I told someone myself. I'm just really glad-"

"Hayley! Don't worry about anything. I still think of you as the same before, just now I know that you have a tail. But I do think that you're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid for coming to the rainiest place in the U.S.," I joked.

She smiled. "Yeah, well, I can't change that. It's not my fault Sam decided to stay in La Push, and my Mom decided to get a job here."

"Jake! Hayley! Where are you?" someone yelled.

Hayley cursed under her breath and pulled out of our hug. I had to resist letting a whimper out. "How long can you hold your breath for?" she asked.

"I don't know. I've never tried."

"Follow me."

She dove under the water and I followed her. Her body flew gracefully in the water. I had to give her mermaid side credit. She looked beautiful swimming under water. I felt slightly jealous of her ability to glide through the water like that, while I struggled to keep up with her.

She turned back to me and motioned for me to swim up. I swam up and found myself behind some large rocks on the other side of First Beach. I never actually thought that I would be able to swim that far without breathing.

"Come here," she said, panicking. I looked to where she was looking and I saw the pack rushing down the beach. I swam over to her and she pulled me towards the beach area that was covered by the rocks.

"Okay, so I never told you the full gist of what being a mermaid was like, so don't freak out, okay? I'll tell you all about it later." I nodded my head.

She put her hand over her tail and she moved her hand like it was squishing a lemon. Steam started appearing from around her, and soon she was covered with it. After a few seconds the steam started to disappear around her. When I could finally see her, she was just like she was before Jared picked her up.

I think she could tell that I was astonished, because she grimaced before she took my hand and led me to the pack. We walked up to the pack and Jared turned around first.

"Hayley! Jacob!" He ran towards us and stopped right before he crashed into us. "What happened to you guys?"

"We shared a lit-" Hayley dug her nails into my hand.

"We just ended up swimming a little farther than you guys did when you jumped off. No big deal," she said.

"Why did you even jump off? You were yelling at me before for bringing you to the edge, and then you just jump off? No offense Hale, but that's a little insane."

By this time, the whole pack was here.

"Yeah, well umm, you just made me in a really big mood to go. Sometimes I just get these random urges to do stuff."

Jared shrugged his shoulders but Sam stared at her, not believing a word she said.

"So do you want to go again?" Embry asked.

"No thanks," she said quickly. "I'm just going to go back home. See ya guys."

"Bye Hale," we said.

She walked away and off of the beach.

"So, who's up for a bet?" Embry asked. Most of the pack shook their heads at him and started up the cliff, but Sam and I stayed put. Once we couldn't hear her anymore, Sam looked over at me.

"What really happened?" he asked.

"What she said. She ended up going farther than the rest of us, and when I dove in, I found her and we swam back to the beach."

He let out a sigh, his signal of telling me that he believed me for now, and followed the rest of the pack up the cliff, me following closely behind.


	13. Fear

_hey everyone! thank you all so much for the great reviews! we're at 52! ahhh! :D it makes me smile when I open up my inbox and see that people commented on my story :)_

_so we're getting so mythical drama! be prepared, and I hope you enjoy it! :D_

* * *

_Fear - A feeling of agitation and dread usually caused by the presence or imminence of danger._

_- Urban Dictionary_

(Hayley's POV)

A few days passed since Jake's discovery, and he seemed to accept it, which I was completely grateful for. I don't know what I would do if the boy I loved didn't accept that side of me.

Wait...love? Did I just say love? There's no way that could be true. I just met the guy two weeks ago! My brain must just be malfunctioning.

The next weekend, the boys went cliff diving again, but I just watched this time. Eventually I grew tired of seeing them jump off the cliff, so I said bye to the boys, kissed Jake goodbye, and started heading back home. Emily said that Kim was coming over again, so maybe I would be able to meet her. I missed her last weekend since I came home right after she left.

I was only a few minutes into the walk, and I wasn't even that far from the beach, and the walk back was already being a pain in the ass. It seemed longer than last week's.

I was about to cross the road so I could get to the other street when I saw something flash before me. It looked human-like, but it was going way to fast for it to be human. I got really creeped out, so I started to jog home. I cut through the woods as a shortcut that the guys showed me.

The trees to my right starting moving, like there was something in there. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go into the woods, 'cause this is usually the part in those scary movies where the stupid girl gets killed by some crazy psycho killer. But I was already halfway through, so I figured it would be better to just head home instead of going back.

Something white and red flew in front of me again, and I yelped. I put my hand over my heart in an attempt to stop it's rapid beating, but it came and flew in front of me again before I was calm. This time, it stopped.

It was a beautiful woman with fiery red hair. She was super pale, but her eyes were what caught my attention.

They were blood red, just like the girl in my dream.

"You know," she whispered in my ear. "You could help me a lot with my plan. That Cullen girl would never be able to see what my decision was, or what happened to you, since we're on those mutt's territory."

"Wha-what are you ta-talking about?" I stammered.

"Aww, your mutt never told you anything, did he?" she said. She traced her fingers against my neck. I felt paralyzed.

"Your blood smells so good." She smiled maliciously. "Better than that worthless vampire's mate. James would have loved to have you.

"And your death would anger those mutts so much. I have a friend that I can get to change my smell to one of the Cullens. Your mutts would blame the Cullens for your death. Then the treaty would be destroyed, and there would be a war between the two. And if they all die, then it will be just me and the human girl. But of course, I would have to keep the vampire alive, so that he can watch his mate die.

"But then again, what's the fun in that? My mother always told me not to play with my food, but it's so much fun to do. I always liked creating little games. I would always win them, of course, but it would still be fun playing them. And now my games are a little more exciting. Seeing people run for their lives, even when they have no chance for escape. But I don't think that there's enough time for that." She sighed dramatically. "Oh well."

She opened get mouth and she showed me her sharp teeth. "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." She moved towards my neck, but paused before she reached it. "On second thought, be prepared for excruciating pain."

She grabbed my shoulders to hold me in place and brought her face to my neck.

That's when it all clicked. The teeth, the blood, the red eyes. She was a vampire!

I started hyperventilating and shaking. Her teeth grazed my skin and I could feel a slight stream of blood trickling down it.

"You have the best smelling blood I have ever witnessed! I can't believe that someone hasn't gotten to you already," she said as she inhaled my scent.

There was no way that I could die like this. Not when I finally got to live with Sam, not when I finally told someone my secret, and not when I was in such a good relationship with Jake.

She was a good deal stronger than me, so I did the first thing that came to my mind. I set fire to her hands and she immediately let go. Then I sent a huge gust of wind that made her fly back a good ways away.

"You're going to make this a little more exciting for me, aren't you?" she hissed at me. She was about to get up, but I threw lightening at her to keep her down. I could feel my powers going out of control. There was going to be a storm here soon if I didn't control them.

I ran away from her as fast as I could. I screamed for help. I knew that no one would be able to hear me, but I still tried.

I had a feeling that she wasn't that far away from me, but I could see the opening to the street. Maybe, just _maybe_, someone would be there. But then would I get them into trouble too?

I ran out there and crashed into a wall. I looked up at it. It wasn't a wall, it was Jake.

I fiercely grabbed him into a hug and he hugged me tightly back. Tears started to form in my eyes and I started to cry into him. I seemed to be doing this a lot now.

He started stroking my head and tried to comfort me. "What's wrong Hale?" he asked. I couldn't answer him, so he continued to comfort me. "Shhh, honey. It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be alright." He looked down, and I felt him freeze. He brought his hand up to my neck and touched the spot where the vampire scratched her teeth. I could hear a growl in his throat. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.

"There was a vampire," I said between my tears, not even thinking about how crazy I probably sounded to him. "She had red hair, and she said that she was going to kill me 'cause I would help her being dead."

"Victoria," he whispered. He started to growl more and shake and I pulled away from him. All of the other guys were tense.

"You know her?"

"Fuck!" he yelled, ignoring me and turned to the rest of the guys. "Embry, take her back to Emily's house. We'll go and catch her. And I swear to God Embry, if anything happens to her I will rip your head off."

Everyone except Embry ran off towards the woods. He started walking towards the house, probably expecting me to follow, but I couldn't move my legs. He turned back around once he realized that I wasn't following him.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

I shook my head no.

"You're probably just in shock. C'mon. It'll be alright." He picked me up and carried me bridal style to Emily's house.

After a few minutes, he walked into the house and put me down on the couch. "You need to rest. Everyone else will be back soon, kay? 'Till then, try and get some sleep. It will calm your nerves and everything. I'll be right back to fix that cut, too."

I nodded my head. Embry stared at me for a little while, probably thinking that I was going to explode any minute (which I felt like I was), but then walked into the kitchen where Emily was waiting. I could hear snippets of their conversation.

"What happened...her?" Emily asked.

"Vampire...her...thinks...Victoria," Embry said.

Emily gasped. "Does...know everything?" Everything? What's everything?

"No...Sam...ask...tonight."

"Why tonight?"

"It will...keep her...less danger...she knows."

I couldn't stay awake for any longer. The toll that finding out that vampires were real was huge, and I fell asleep in exhaustion.

The last thing that I saw was a pair of red eyes staring at me from outside the window.

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_I hope you all like it :) Hayley's figured out that vampires are real now, and she'll be in for a big surprise later! :)_

_so what mythical creature would you want to find out was real? I think I'd like wizards to be real. wouldn't it be so cool to do anything with a snap of your fingers or a wave of your wand? I think it would haha anyways, enjoy the rest of your time now on fanfiction!_


	14. Secrets

_hey everyone! sorry about the late update again. school is unfortunately getting in the way of things, but I'm back! :) thank you guys so much for your awesome reviews! you're amazing!_

_here's an extra-long chapter for you guys - hope you enjoy it! :D _

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_"Secrets are made to be found out with time."  
__~ Charles Sanford_

When I finally woke up, I looked at the clock. 2:51 flashed across the screen. So I was asleep for 3 and 1/2 hours. Not bad, considering I was exhausted before. I got up, and I could immediately feel the gauze around my neck. I assumed that the injury wasn't that bad since I didn't go to a hospital, but it still hurt like hell.

I walked into the kitchen and found Sam, Billy, and Emily sitting around the table. Jake was missing. Their conversation stopped right as I walked in, so it was obvious that they were talking about me.

"Don't let me stop your conversation. I promise I won't listen," I said as I headed towards the refrigerator and grabbed a Sprite.

"We were done talking anyway. Are you alright?," Billy said.

"I'm fine," I lied, and I retreated to my bedroom before they could ask anything else. I took out my diary and started to write. Cleo had one before and she threw it away, but I kept one of my own. Emma never found out about it, so I was in the clear about keeping it.

Something happened today, something that I can't figure out if it's bad or good. Good, because were not alone in the earth, and bad, because that thing is dangerous.

I'm still slightly shaken up by it, but I'm getting better. I was walking in the woods, and there was a vampire. She almost tried to kill me, but I burned her and threw her away from me with wind.

I started shaking from the memory. I could feel tears start to form in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall.

I can't believe that their are other mythical creatures besides mermaids. But why did it ever have to be vampires? I'm really scared that she'll come back for me again. She said that she wanted to kill me. What if next time I won't be able to defend myself? What if I -

"Hayley? I'm coming in," Sam said. I slammed my journal closed and shoved it under my pillow. I quickly composed myself and glanced at the mirror across from me. It didn't look like I was crying.

Sam walked in, followed by Jake. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. There was no way I was fine. Would you be in you found out that there were bloodsucker monsters? I didn't think so.

"Did she do anything to you?" Jake asked.

"Besides threaten me? No," I said.

Jake started shaking violently. He looked like he wanted to punch something into oblivion. My eyes widened in fear, and I started involuntarily shaking again.

"Jacob, calm down," Sam ordered.

"Why the hell should I calm down?" he screamed. "It's my fault that she got caught up with Victoria! I should have been there with her! Now that leech is after her, and it's -"

"Jake!" Sam yelled. "If you won't calm down because I told you, then calm down for Hayley!"

* * *

(Jacob POV)

I looked over at Hayley. She looked so scared!

Shit, I did that to her! I calmed down immediately and walked over to her. I pulled her in my arms and she flinched at first, but then welcomed my embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Hale. I'm sorry I scared you. I would never do anything to hurt you. I couldn't do anything to hurt you," I said as she slowly stopped shaking. Once she seemed stable enough, I knew that we had to go. I kissed her forehead and we left to walk downstairs to go talk to Dad again. He would know what to do.

"Hey Dad," I said as I sat down in the chair across from him. Sam took the chair to his right, almost like he was his right-hand man.

"We need to figure out what to do for Hayley," he said, getting right to the point. He already felt a father-daughter bond with her, partly because I think he missed having a daughter around after Rebecca and Rachel left. "The red-headed vampire is obviously after her, but for what, I don't know. She's only interacted with the Cullen's twice, so I don't think that it has anything to do with them. Any ideas?"

At first I thought that it was because she was one of our imprints, but then wouldn't she have gone after Emily and Kim too? There was only one other major thing that set her apart from everyone else (even though everything about her was better than anyone else). Her mermaid side.

I was about to open my mouth, but I remembered what she said about not telling anyone the day that we were in the ocean. I couldn't break her trust now that I was already starting to get it! It would put me back at step one, even farther than step one!

"Nothing," I reluctantly said before I could spill her secret. I could protect her on my own if it had anything to do with the mermaid side. I wasn't going to let anyone near her, and I wasn't going to lose her trust. A win-win situation.

Sam nodded his head, agreeing with me. "But I still think that we should tell her about the werewolves," I blurted out. Sam started shaking and he gripped the table so hard that he broke a piece of it off. My Dad and I stared at him in shock.

"No," he hissed. "She's not finding out about this yet. Not until a very long time. Got it?"

"Sam," my Dad said disapprovingly. Sam whipped his head around, but his cold, hard face stayed the same. There was no way that he was going to budge on his point.

"Why not?" I growled at him. "Why the hell shouldn't she know what we are. She has a fucking vampire after her, and we're going to make sure that she feels likes she alone and unprotected by not telling her? So smart of you, Sam!" I could feel the sarcasm dripping from my words.

"We. Are. Not. Telling. Her. Alpha's orders," he growled.

I started to shake violently. Who was he to make that big of a decision, and then force me to do it? I was the rightful alpha! I could take my place any day and make Sam Beta, and then he wouldn't be able to tell me to do anything.

I was almost about to take my place as Alpha, but Hayley's face popped into my head. Could I really do that to her? Could I make her live with her brother and her soulmate constantly standoffish towards each other? I knew the answer before I even asked the question. I could never do that to her. So I would just have to suck it up and tell her another time. Maybe I could trick her into finding it out by herself.

But I wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"She's my imprint, Sam! I can't keep this from her forever, and I won't! Do you really want to keep putting this off?"

"Think about this, Jacob. If she finds out now what we are, then she might get so afraid that she'll run off and go back to Australia. How are we supposed to protect her then? It's better if she doesn't know and she's safe. That's final."

He stood up and walked out that door, mostly likely to take a run. My shaking calmed down a little bit after he left, and I knew it was okay to be with my dad. I looked over at him and I saw sorrow in his eyes. He knew how hard this was for me. But I didn't want any remorse, so I walked out the door and started home. I was going to make this work, somehow.

* * *

(Hayley POV)

I didn't see anymore vampires for the next week, which I was entirely grateful for. I stayed mostly at home, because Jake and the rest of the guys always seemed to disappear. I could tell that Emily was tense when they weren't there, but I didn't know why. They couldn't be doing anything too bad. I was pretty sure that Emily would make sure that that never happened. She had my brother whipped.

Jared wanted Kim to stay here for the day. I'd never met her before this, since she left to go on a trip to see her grandma with her family before I came, and just came back in last night. Emily was getting ready by making one of her famous banana breads while I was sprawled out on the couch watching TV. I heard a soft knock on the door and before I could get up to answer, Emily was out of the kitchen, walking to open the door.

"Hi, Emily," I heard a timid voice say. I flipped my body over so that I could see the two girls, and saw Emily hugging who I thought was Kim.

"Hey, Kim," Emily said warmly. "So how was your visit?"

"It was good. Grandma's getting better, but she's still on a whole bunch of medication."

"Well, that's good she's getting better," Emily said. "Come on, I have a new type of bread I want you to try." She pulled Kim from the door and dragged her in the kitchen. Right when she was about to step foot into her domain, she turned back to me.

"Kim, this is my sister-in-law Hayley. Hayley, this is Kim."

"Hi," she said shyly again.

"Hey," I said. I tried to smile warmly at her, although I don't know how well that worked out. She made a small smile at me in return.

"We're gonna be in the kitchen if you want to come," Emily said. I nodded my head and they both left the room.

I told Emily that I never really liked cooking, saying that I was afraid of burning the house down instead of saying that I was afraid of water. She never forced me to be there with her, but I could tell that she was lonely because she came out often to talk to me. I felt really bad about it, but now that Kim was there to be with her, I didn't feel as guilty. I turned back to the T.V.

Eventually I decided to go in the kitchen. There was only so much Vampire Diaries that you could watch in one day.

"Did Jake tell her yet?" Kim asked. I stopped where I was and crouched down so they couldn't see me.

"No, not yet. Sam and Jake don't want to tell her yet. I don't see why not though. I think she'd be able to handle it."

"Isn't that the same thing you said about me?" Kim laughed.

"Yeah," Emily said. "But I think you handled it pretty well!"

"Emily. I fainted. Four times. And he never even got through everything before I ran!"

"Well, you were still better than me. I completely ignored him, and then when I actually started to talk to him again, he told me about the imprinting and I wouldn't talk to him for a month." What the heck where they talking about? What was imprinting? It was getting pretty freaking annoying that they wouldn't tell me whatever secret the had. I mean, come on! I think if I'm living here, I deserve to know.

"But anyway," Emily said. "Try this. I think it's the best bread I've made in a long time."

"You're breads are always good, Em," Kim said. I decided to walk in then, since it seemed like they wouldn't be talking about it anymore.

"Hey guys," I said as I walked in. I went to the fridge, grabbed some salami, and made a sandwich with the bread that was on the counter. I sat down right as Kim started freaking out.

"Oh my God! What time is it?"

"It's only three thirty," I said. "Why?"

"Shoot! I have to get home! I'm so sorry! I totally forgot that I had to babysit my brother today." She grabbed her bag as she ran out the door. We both yelled bye to her.

"I'm never really gonna meet her, I am?" I said, exasperated.

Emily laughed. "At this rate, no you're not."

The next day was Monday, so I grudgingly got out of bed at 6:30 in the morning. I was a firm believer that it really and truly should be illegal to be up this early.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out a white tank top, a green over the shoulder shirt, blue jeans, and my tan Uggs. I was so glad that Cleo had some boots that her cousin gave her that I could have, since my whole shoe supply consisted of sandals and my only pair of cowboy boots. I French-braided my hair (it took me forever to master this), and after brushing my teeth, I walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Hey, Em," I said. She set a plate of pancakes on the table and I dug into them happily. "Where's Sam?"

"Out at work. Jake's there too, so I'm gonna drive you into school today. Sam left me the truck."

I nodded my head. "You know, no one ever told me, where do they work?"

"Around the rez. There in... security," she said.

I scrunched my eyebrows down in confusion. "Really? That's weird. When I asked Jake he said they did a lot of community service stuff."

"They do a bit of both," Emily said, a little bit to fast. "Come on, you're going to be late for school if we wait here any longer."

She walked out the door, and after grabbing my bag, I followed her. I fell asleep in the car, so it felt like a few seconds before we were pulling up to the school. "Have a good day, Hale."

"See ya, Em," I smiled to her. She pulled out of the parking lot and once she was out of sight, I walked towards the school. It was such a bright, sunny day that I didn't have to worry about sprouting a tail in front of anybody. The warmth was incredibly nice.

I walked inside and started towards my first period class. The day dragged by, but it came time for lunch. I walked inside and I noticed two things.

Becca Geogretti and Hannah Cetica were waving me over to there table to eat. I was finally make some friends here!

Bella Swan was sitting all alone at the table were the Cullens usually sat. She was friends with Jake, so she may know the secret that they were all talking about. This may be my only time to talk to her without the Cullens too.

Going against my better judgment of not ignoring my newly found friends, I smiled apologetically to them and started to walk over to Bella.

"Hi, Bella," I said as I sat down at the table.

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "Hi?" she said to me warily.

"Look," I said. "I know that we didn't really get to know each on the right foot. And that was partly my fault. I know that you probably don't want to be friends with me after what I said to Edward, and I totally get that. But I was wondering if you could help me with something."

She raised her eyebrows at me, and I took that as a signal to continue.

"Everyone at La Push is keeping something from me, and its getting pretty damn annoying. I want to know what it is, but they keep talking about it in secret, so I don't think that they'll tell me. I know that you used to be friends with Jake. Is their anything that you know about that?"

I looked at her and she had this far away look in her eyes. "Bella? Are you okay?" I asked when she didn't respond for a while.

Her eyes focused on me again. "No. There's nothing I can tell you. Sorry," she said emotionlessly as she stood up. She started walking away, and I dropped my head down on the table in defeat. I was almost positive that she knew something!

It was only when I felt a thud on the table a little while later that I looked up again. I saw Bella and a book on the table. "Take this. It's the only thing I can help you with. I hope you have more luck now than I have." She took off after that.

I grabbed the book and looked over the cover. _Quileute Legends_.


	15. What the Heck!

_hi everyone! so first off, I'm so completely sorry for the the huge amount of time that this has taken me to update! school has decided to become extremely annoying, and with the other things I'm committed to, I've gotten so tired that any time that hasn't been dedicated to doing something in one of those areas, I've been sleeping. And I know that it's no excuse to keep you guys waiting, but maybe you'll forgive me? :)_

_but on a lighter note, 64 reviews! ahhh! :D i love you guys so much, and whenever I get a review, it makes my day so much better! :D and now, chapter 15! enjoy! :)_

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_A Secret: Something you're not supposed to tell anyone, but somehow gets out regardless of who told who.  
__~ Urban Dictionay_

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_

I walked home alone that afternoon. I called Emily saying that I didn't need a ride home, and she reluctantly agreed. The worn-out book that Bella gave me was in my closed hand, and I was clutching it like it was my life-line. In a way, it was. It might possibly give me all the answers that I need, although I highly doubt that a legend book would. But who knows, vampires and mermaids are real, so who's to say what can happen?

I looked around, trying to find a secluded spot on the beach, away from the La Push and Forks teens that were playing on the beach on this rare, hot day. As I was walking around, I saw Jared with Kim coming down the path, but he was to engrossed in watching her to notice me.

I climbed over a few rocks, and then into a small alcove in a cave, and finally came up to a tiny beach-like area that seemed like no one knew about. I threw my bag to the ground, found a comfortable spot, and cracked open the book to do some reading.

The first page the book opened too immediately caught my interest. _Taha Aki and the Spirit Warriors._

_Taha Aki protected his people with great pride. However, one day when he went to pray in his secluded spot and left his body for the spirit world, the traitor Utlapa left his own body, took over Taha Aki's, and then killed his original body. Utlapa, in Taha Aki's body, returned to the village and convinced everyone that he was their Chief, while Taha Aki's spirit watched on from the spirit world. Utlapa, in Taha Aki's body, said that no one could go into the spirit world, saying that there was a great danger there, but in reality, he was afraid of Taha Aki._

_Taha Aki sent down a powerful wolf to kill Utlapa. Being a coward, Utlapa hid behind his warriors and instead one of his warriors was killed. After the incident, the wolf followed Taha Aki. Becoming desperate, Taha Aki had the idea that he may be able to share the wolf's body so that he could cross the line between life and death. The wolf agreed, and once they were both in the wolf's body, they went down to the village._

_The warrior's were going to kill the wolf, but it started sing songs of the Quileute. The warriors stopped, realizing it was connected to a spirit, and Yut, a warrior, left his body to go to the spirit world. Yut realized the truth, but Utlapa knew what was happening. He killed Yut before he could tell the others what he found out._

_Taha Aki was furious, and the wolf transformed into a man, which the warriors recognized as Taha Aki's spirit. Utlapa tried tried to run, but Taha Aki killed him. As people realized what happened, things returned to normal. It was also found out that others could transform into wolves as well when they reached manhood._

I slammed the book shut. "What the hell?" I rasped out to myself.

_Werewolves_? I thought. _So not just mermaids and vampires, but werewolves too? But it can't be true. They're just legends. Legends that are thousands of years old that no one believes because they're not true._

Partially believing myself, I put all my things in my bag, especially making sure that the book was safe, got up off the sandy beach, and headed back towards the main beach. Thoughts swirled in my head. It couldn't be true, could it? Was there really a whole mythical world that no one knew about?

But everything would make sense then. How they were all so different from anyone else. It was because they were different!

I dropped my bag by a rock so that it was hidden from view, and seeing that no one was left on the beach, ran and jumped into the water. Soon I could feel my tail, and I sprinted off into the depths of the ocean. As I got farther away from the beach, I noticed a small island in the distance. Feeling connected to it, I headed over to the island. There was a small opening in the side of the island a few meters down below the surface of the water. It looked eerily similar to the opening for the moon pool at Mako Island.

I swam into and came up to the surface. As I looked around, I was 99.9% sure that this was another moon pool! It looked exactly like the one at Mako, but instead of being a dormant volcano, it was just a cave with an opening at the top. I couldn't wait to tell Cleo, Emma, and Rikki what I found!

I completely forgot about werewolves and become engrossed in my discovery. Wanting to share my discovery with my girls as soon as possible, I raced out of the cave and sprinted towards mainland.

I was so close to the beach when I saw it. That red hair that scared me to death. She was swimming away from me, but I still couldn't bring myself to move away. What if that one movement set her off and I became her next meal?

After a little while, I needed to get air, so I swam to the top of the water. As I took a big gulp of air, I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. A huge, and I mean _huge_, wolf was growling at the water below.

What surprised me more than anything was the fact that it was _my_ wolf from _my_ dream. Two more wolves joined him, and then two more figures appeared from behind the three wolves. I thought it would be more wolves, but oh how I was wrong! Paul and Embry appeared from behind them, and they started talking to the wolves. Were they mental? Why would they freaking talk to wolves like nothing about that was wrong?

I continued watching them, and almost had a heart attack when the wolves started to change their shape. Three different figures were in the wolves' places now, but it wasn't the wolves. No, it was Jared, Sam, and Jake!

I let out a loud gasp and started hyperventilating. Everything started to spin and black surrounded my vision. _I'm going to drown_, I thought as I fell into the ocean, unconscious.

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_as a final note, I have a poll for all of my readers. There are three ways that this story can go now. Do you want:_

_1. all of the wolf pack finds out that she is a mermaid now_

_2. some of the wolf pack finds out (say who you would want)_

_3. they all find out later (although I think most of you want people to find out now, so I don't think this would really be considered an option :P)_

_so, __like it? hate it? __love it? let me know and let me know what I can do better, or what you don't like, or what you like! until next time, adios! :)_


	16. Hypocrite?

_hi people! so first off, I just want to say, thank you all so much for the reviews and favorites and story alerts! 16 reviews? thats the most I've ever gotten for this story! amazing! :D I know that I say this alot, but I love you guys! (but not in a creepy way haha)_

_so even though I should be working on all of these freaking projects I had, I wanted to get in an update before my schedule gets extremely hectic with midterms (even though this week is going to be like midterms with all of the stuff that my teachers are giving me, but oh well) so I hope that you all enjoy this! _

_I don't know if any of you will really care about this, but I officially think I've found a writing song haha. My cousin and I were playing kingdom hearts the other day, and there was a scene that we skipped through by accident, so I went online to watch it because I was confused, and I found Roxas's theme instead, if any of you know what I'm talking about. It's has so much emotion in it, that it makes me want to write. I don't really know exactly why it does that, but I'm not asking any questions haha_

_I got some reviews that I wanted to answer in the last chapter, so here they go:_

_twilightjen - in H2O, we never really know how long the mermaids can hold their breath for, but its not forever. I think that the longest time one of them held their breath was like 15 minutes or something around there_

_lucie - I definitely agree with you on that the chapter is really short haha, but i didn't update this one in a while, so I wanted to put something out, even if it was short. and any advice on how to write in more in depth? I appreciate the feedback, but its kind of hard to write it more in depth when this is the best you know how to do. so any suggestions?_

_

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_Hypocrite: Someone who says that they would never do something or never be like someone, yet turns around and does the thing that they say that they will never do._

_~ Urban Dictionary_

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_

(Jacob POV)

_She fucking got away!_ I yelled in my head.

_We'll get her next time. Don't worry, Jake. We'll make sure that nothing happens to Hale. We've got eight wolves protecting her. There's no way that something else can happen_, Jared said in a bad attempt to comfort me.

_I really hope that you're right._

"This bloodsucker is really pissing me off," Paul said as he came up from behind us. "It's like she knows what we're thinking."

I phased back into a human, and Sam and Jared followed suit. We all started to put on our clothes when my stomach started to feel queasy, which confused me. Phasing usually didn't do that to me.

"Maybe she does?" Embry suggested. "The Cullens have powers, so couldn't she?

"Even though we hate each other, I'm pretty sure they would have told us about it if she did. They hate her as much as we do, and they know that that information would give us an advantage and allow us to catch her easier," Sam said.

"We need to catch her soon before she hurts anyone else," Jared said, referring to the man that laid dead in forest. We all knew the underlying meaning though; none of our imprints could get hurt.

"Where is Hayley anyway?" I asked. The feeling in my stomach turned to dread, and I knew that something was wrong.

"With Emily," he said.

"Can you call to make sure?"

"Oh yeah. Because I definitely have a phone with me right now," he said sarcastically.

"I've got one," Embry said. He stuck his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a worn out phone.

"Where the hell did you get that thing?" Paul teased as Jared laughed with him. "It looks like something my grandma would have!"

Embry's face became red. "Shut the fuck up. My mom won't let me get a new one." He thrust the phone at Sam while growling at Paul. "Give it back to me later," he said to Sam. Sam nodded his head and Embry phased and took off into the forest.

"Awww! Is poor Embry running away!" Paul yelled good naturally. "We should probably go make sure he's alright. Can't have what happened last time happen again" he said to Jared, while glaring at me, after a while. Jared nodded his head, and he and Paul took off.

"So are you gonna call her?" I asked Sam, pointedly ignoring Paul. I didn't want to think about that situation as much as he did. And no, you're probably never going to find out. It was that bad.

Sam nodded his head. He flipped open the phone and dialed the number. "Hey babe," he said with a smile on his face. "Where's Hale?" His eyebrows scrunched down in confusion, but they soon went back up and his face brightened. A smile slid on his face. "Be right there babe." He hung up and closed the phone.

"So?" I asked.

"She's fine. She hasn't come home, but she heard from one of her friends that she saw Hayley at the beach. I gotta go. See you later, Jake," he said as he ran off.

My stomach flipped over itself again. I felt like I was going to throw-up. I raced to the side of the cliff and put my head between my knees. I thought werewolves weren't supposed to feel this fucking bad?

I shut my eyes trying to all of the queasiness go away, but it just got worse. I snapped my eyes open and started breathing heavily. I focused my eyes on one spot and tried to force all of the pain to go away.

My eyes focused on an orange spot in the water.

_I went back down under and started to look around for her. But there was nothing here. Nothing except a huge orange fish tail._

No, it couldn't be her. The orange thing wasn't moving. She had to be alright, she just had to be. The thing was probably just something someone left in the water and forgot about it.

_I saw brown hair floating in the water, and a girl's body that was connected to the fish tail. Wait..._

I looked closer at the orange blob and looked around it. I could feel my heart drop when I saw something brown next to it. I thought the whole "heart-dropping" thing only happened in movies!

_Why the hell was I still standing here?_ I mentally screamed at myself. Just like the time when I first found out that she was a mermaid, I jumped into the water. It was eerily similar to how I saved Bella...

Once again, my body hit the water and I swam over to Hayley. I grabbed her torso and pulled her up above the water. I swam as fast as I could to the shore and pulled her onto the sand.

Thinking back on it, I probably should have placed her in a more secluded spot, but I was too worried to think about things like that. Luckily, no one was on the beach, but unluckily, she wasn't breathing.

She was under the water for a very long time, I knew that. But I didn't know how long, and that was what scared me. There was only a certain amount of time that she could hold her breath, even if she was a mermaid.

I started doing CPR, but try as I might, I couldn't make her start to breath again. And it wasn't like I could bring her to a hospital or call someone, because she still had that fucking tail. It was about a minute later that I heard the footsteps coming. I looked up and saw Paul, Embry, and Jared staring at me.

"Wha- How? Huh?" Jared asked.

"Just forget the damn tail and help me!" I pleaded. Embry came running over, but Paul and Jared just stood there looking dumb.

"Just keep on trying," he said. "It's not like we can do much with that... thing." He pointed over toward the tail.

"But I've already tried! What the hell am I supposed to do?" I yelled exasperated.

"Well the first thing you can do is stop fucking yelling!" Paul said. "Do you really want people to come over here? I highly doubt that she'd be fucking ecstatic if that secret came out!"

"Just keeping doing CPR, Jake. That's all we can hope for, unless we call the Cullens."

I started to do CPR again, but I knew that within the next few seconds if she didn't respond I would call them.

She wasn't responding, and I grabbed the phone that Embry held out to me. I guess he got it back from Sam. I dialed the number in and was about to press send when she started coughing up water. I chucked the phone down and grabbed her head and the top part of her body to help her sit upright.

"Oh God Hale. You alright?" I asked, happy that she was at least conscious.

"Yeah," she said in a raspy voice and she leaned back again me. She closed her eyes again and started breathing deeply. It was a little while before she opened her eyes and saw everyone around her.

"What the hell?" she screamed as she looked at the guys, and then back at her tail, and then at the guys again. "Why are they here?" she exclaimed back at me.

I rubbed the back of my neck and grimaced. "They were helping me. It wasn't like I planned for them to find out now."

"Dammit," she mumbled. "Rikki, Emma, and Cleo are going to kill me now." She let out a long sigh.

"If it makes you feel any better, we won't tell anyone," Jared said.

"Thanks a lot," she said gratefully. "It's really cool though, having the tail I mean, in case you were wondering."

"I'm sure it is," Jared laughed.

We sat there in silence until my curiosity finally got the better of me. "What exactly made you start to drown?"

Her eyes snapped open at that. She jumped away from me (or jumped as much as she could with a tail), and faced all of us.

"You- them- wolves- huh?" she said frantically as she pointed a finger at all of us. "Please tell that what I saw wasn't true."

We all glanced at each other. This was not how I wanted to tell her.

"What are you talking about?" Embry asked nervously.

"Oh my God, it is true. You all are freaking werewolves!"

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" Paul asked. He was much better at lying than Embry was.

"Embry's a freaking horrible lier. So don't any of you lie to me too. I saw you up on the cliff. Jacob, Jared, and Sam were wolves and then they turned into humans."

We all glanced at each other. What were we supposed to do? They all knew that Sam didn't want Hayley to know about being werewolves just yet, even if we all disagreed with it.

But there was no way that we could lie to her if she was the one that said what we were and even_ saw_ what we were. I knew that we all knew that as well, so we turned back around to tell her. But she wasn't standing in front of us anymore. She was backed away against a rock a few feet away from us, her tail gone.

"How the hell did you get rid of that?" Paul exclaimed.

"Easy," she said. "I dried it off. So are you going to lie to me or not?"

"No, we're not gonna lie. What you saw was right. We're werewolves, or shape-shifters, or whatever you want to call it," I said.

She glanced at all of us before she starting to run away.

"Why is she running away?" Embry asked.

"I don't know, but we better catch her before she does something stupid," Jared said.

"She's not gonna do anything stupid," I growled. "She's not stupid."

"Oh, like almost drowning when your a mermaid isn't stupid. Aren't mermaids supposed to breathe under water? You picked a smart imprint," Paul said.

I started shaking. Why the hell was he calling my imprint stupid? He was the stupid one here.

"Do you guys not see her running the hell away from here?" Jared said, stopping me from lunging at Paul. "She's getting farther and farther away, don't you think it's time to catch up with her?"

We all started chasing after her, and my fight with Paul was soon forgotten. I couldn't let her run off and get hurt - that was my first priority. Once I caught up with her, then I would worry about Paul.

We caught up with her in a few seconds. That was one of good things about being a werewolf - the speed. I grabbed onto her wrist and stopped her.

"Why did you run away from us?" I asked. She didn't answer me, but instead kept on struggling. "Come on, please talk to me, babe."

"Don't call me that. I don't want you calling me that," she said.

"Just please tell me why you ran away."

"Why the hell did you think I ran away?"

"Because of what we are?"

She nodded her head as she tried to get away.

"Being a little hypocritical, aren't we?" Paul said.

"Well at least I don't turn into a fucking monster and kill people. Just get the fuck away from me, all of you. I hate you," she growled, which made Paul start to shake. I grabbed her and pulled her behind my back.

"You may not like me," I whispered to myself. "But there is still no way I'm letting you get hurt."

She froze as she saw Paul phase. He growled at us and looked ready to attack. I jumped towards him and phased too.

_What the hell are you doing?_ I screamed at him.

_How are you so calm after what she just said? I got pissed. So what._

_Because I know that she doesn't know better. What is she supposed to think?_

_She's supposed to trust that we wouldn't hurt her or anybody else!_

_Leave Paul. You're not helping by almost attacking her_, I commanded. He turned around and ran back towards the forest. I went over to Embry and nudged him in the shoulder. I nodded towards Hayley, who looked fear stricken.

"You want me to explain the basics to her?" he asked, and I nodded. "Okay," he said, facing Hayley. "First off, we're not evil and we don't kill people. We only kill vampires. The one that threatened you the other day is the one we're actually trying to kill right now."

"So... you don't hurt anyone?" she asked. I couldn't help but notice that her voice cracked, which meant she was still slightly afraid.

"No."

She looked down at the ground. "So that means that I was just being an idiot before, and a hypocrite like Paul said?"

"Kinda," Jared laughed. "But don't worry. People usually are when they hear all this. Well, not the hypocrite part, because usually they're not mermaids, but whatever."

"I guess I should apologize to you all and Paul then. I'm sorry."

I walked over to her and licked her face to try and make her feel better.

"Eww!" she squealed. "You're disgusting." She laughed and swatted me on the head.

"So you guys ready to go home then?" Embry asked. "I'm starving, and I think Emily is making hamburgers tonight. My favorite!" He licked his lips as he rubbed his stomach.

"I'm good with that," Hayley agreed. She turned towards me. "Ready?"

"He's not going to be coming with us," Embry said. She turned towards him confused. "Well, he can't really go back to being a human now because he'd be naked, we don't have any clothes, and he can't really go on the road."

Hayley blushed. "Oh. Well then, see you at my house, Jake."

I nodded my head and headed towards the woods, the same way Paul went. I did a victory dance when no one could see me. I won! I didn't listen to Sam, and she found out! I didn't have to keep it all a secret from her anymore! Beat that Sam!

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_so I have a another poll for you guys. Do you either want the next chapter to be _

_1. Hayley's POV of this chapter, or_

_2. continuing on from this chapter (Hayley or Jacob's POV?)_

_thanks for reading, and see you next time! adios!_


	17. An Unexpected Day

hii everyone! first off, happy valentine's day! or single awareness appreciation day! or whatever you want to call this holiday :P

once again, thank you all for your support, alerts, and reviews! :D you're all so amazing! and we're almost to 100 reviews! do you think we can get there before the next chapter gets up? :D there are going to be some review responses are going to be at the end of the chapter, and I know that a lot of you said to split the chapter to hayley and then jake, but I really wanted to put a chapter up, so jake's pov is going to be next chapter :) that's going to be a fun one to write!

thank you to **ElenaSalvatore17** for the ideas for this chapter and the next! enjoy! :D

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_I want your love, and I want your revenge. I want your love. I don't wanna be friends._

~ Bad Romance, _Lady Gaga_

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(Hayley POV)

"Hey Sam!" I yelled as I walked through the door. I dropped my bag onto the couch and walked into the living room. "Sam? Em?" Still no response. I turned back to the guys. "Where are they?" They all shrugged their shoulders. "What a help you are," I muttered under my breath.

"We heard that you know!" Embry exclaimed. I looked at them confused.

"Wolf thing?" I asked. He nodded.

Paul headed towards the kitchen and started raiding it. He brought out a ton of food and started eating it, and the rest of the guys followed close behind him. I rolled my eyes at them, and after telling them I'd be upstairs, I grabbed my bag and went to my room.

I sat down at my laptop and was about to go onto YouTube when I heard my phone vibrating. I fished for it in my bag, but I didn't reach it in time. Glancing at the screen, I saw I had 24 missed calls - 11 from Cleo, 7 from Lewis, 3 from Emma, and 3 from Rikki. I called back Cleo first.

"Hey Cleo," I said when she picked up. "What's with the need to contact me? I know I haven't called you back in forever, and I'm _really_ sorry about that, but things were getting in the way and I had no time. But you _never_ call that many times, and neither does Lewis, so what's up?"

"Do you have any idea what day it is?"

I thought for a little while. "Uh... shoot! Did I miss someone's birthday? Ugh, tell them I'm really sorry! I can't believe-"

"That's not it," she said.

"It's not either of our mermaid anniversaries, right?"

"No."

I thought for a little while. "I'm out of ideas."

"What comes around usually once a month?"

My eyes widened in shock. "Shoot! Today's the day we're supposed to get it? I don't even know where any pads are, and Emily isn't home so it's not like I can ask her! I didn't feel anything, so I didn't even think that I got -"

"Hayley!" Cleo yelled before she started laughing. "It's not _that_ day. What else comes once a month."

I stared outside trying to think. "Ummm..." I could hear Cleo getting impatient with me. "Ah! The full moon!"

"Now you got it," Cleo said. "Do you know what you're going to do about it?"

"I haven't even thought about it," I said. "I guess I'm going to have to go out and get stuff for my room. I'd never be able to cover up the whole house, so I guess unfortunately I'm stuck in my room." I started heading out the door to my room and walked back downstairs. "Hold on a sec, Cleo."

"Okay," she said.

"I'm going out for a bit!" I yelled to the guys.

"Alright!" they all yelled back.

"Okay, I'm back," I said to Cleo.

"Alright. Who were you talking to?" she asked.

"My brother always has these group of guys around our house, so I was saying bye to them."

"Oohh, do you like any of them?" she asked. I knew that she was smiling on the other side.

"Maybe," I said shyly.

"Tell me!"

"Not yet," I teased her.

"Come on! I'm your best friend! You can tell me anything! I wanna know! Come -"

"Okay, okay, okay!" I said, laughing. "Well, there's this guy named Jake that I really like. And he's really cute too."

"Lucky you!"

"I know. I'm so happy. But since we're on the topic of relationships, how is yours and Lewis's going?"

She was silent.

"Not going the best?" I asked sympathetically.

"No, not really. Charlotte is keeping me away from Lewis. She turned off his phone one time so I couldn't even talk to him. She's getting on my last nerve. I'm starting to regret even breaking up with Lewis. I really miss him," she said sadly.

"I'm really sorry, Cleo."

"It's not your fault. It's really hard for me to think about it though. But you would not _believe_ what happened tonight!"

"What happened?"

"She came tonight."

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. What was she talking about?

"My dad forced us to go to Mako Island tonight and -"

"_What?_" I yelled. "_Why the hell would you say yes to that?_" The couple across the street stared at me and I looked apologetically at them. I hurried to the store down the block, anxious to get away from them.

"I know, I know! I didn't want to! But my dad forced me to go. And then Emma and Rikki came along, and Lewis was going to come too, but then he decides to bring _her_ along."

"What was he thinking? Put him on the phone right now," I ordered her.

I heard shuffling on the other end of the phone as I walked into the store. I went to the back of the store to the working supplies part and went searching for black tarp. The only thing I could find though was two black pool covers. Why anyone would have a pool here was beyond my understanding, but I needed the covers, so I knew better than to ask any questions.

I was taking the two pool covers when I heard Lewis get on the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked him.

"Huh?"

"Are you really that clueless? What are you doing with Charlotte?" I asked.

"Hayley, don't."

"I know that you still like her, Lewis. Don't make a mistake and take Charlotte instead. You already made a big mistake by taking her to Mako, and tonight of all nights! Do you want to lose Cleo's trust?"

"No, but I needed to bring Charlotte."

"Why?" I asked. I brought the two pools cover up to the counter and let the guy working there ring them up.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I'm trying to fix things with Charlotte!"

"Who do you want to fix things more with? Charlotte or Cleo?"

He didn't answer.

"Just put Cleo back on the phone," I said. I heard shuffling around again until Cleo got on the phone. The guy pointed to the screen that showed the amount that I owed and I gave him the money.

"What'd you say to him? He seems extremely mad."

"Don't worry about it. Look, I gotta go prepare for the full moon tonight. See ya, Cleo." The guy gave me a weird look and I just shook my head at him, mouthing "Don't worry about it." He nodded his head and gave me my bag.

"Bye, and good luck!" Cleo said.

"You too, especially with Charlotte."

I hung up the phone and headed out the door with the bag in my hand. I walked down the road until I saw my house come into view. After jumping up the steps in front of the house, I walked into my house and went straight upstairs. I didn't hear any noise so I assumed that the guys were out of the house.

I walked into my room and started cutting the pool covers into sizes that would fit the windows. I didn't trust the blinds since they could easily let the moonlight in. I taped the pool covers to the windows and sat down on my bed, happy with my handy work.

I laid down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was pitch black in my room, and I didn't feel like turning on the lights. I heard my phone ring, and I knew it was my alert to myself that the full moon was up.

I heard the door slam and moaned to myself. They were back, and at the worst time too.

"Hayley! Where are you?" someone yelled.

"Up in my room!" I yelled back.

I heard a ton of people running up the stairs and my door opened.

"Come on!" someone said. "We've got a ton of food downstairs and we need you're help to eat it all."

"I'm pretty sure that you all could finish whatever food was in front of you, no matter how much it was," I laughed. "And why did everyone need to come up here?"

"We all wanted to see you," Jake said as he fell onto the bed beside me. He encircled his arm around my waist and I snuggled into him.

"Jake," Sam warned.

"Ah, just leave it be Sam. We're -"

"Not doing anything bad," I finished for him.

"Hey, why's it so dark in here?" Embry asked.

"I like it dark," I said. "You have a problem with that?"

"What the heck is on the windows?" Sam asked.

"It's nothing. Just leave it all alone," I warned.

"Pool covers? Why are these on the windows? And where did you even get them?" Embry asked.

I heard a ripping sound before I could stop him. I tried to jump out of the bed, but Jake's arm kept me there.

"Don't leave," he mumbled.

"Embry, _don't_!" I yelled, still trying to get out of Jake's arm. "_STOP!_"

But it was too late. Embry had the pool cover in his hand and was ripping it off. I couldn't even close my eyes before the moonlight came into my room.

* * *

**ElenaxoxoSilber - **I'm glad you liked the way that she handled it :) Originally, she wasn't going to handle it like that, but then I decided that she should handle it a little bit better because she's kind of in the same boat, and she probably wouldn't handle it the way people without any experience in the magical community would've handled it, you know? haha and after you commented about the swear words, I read it over another time and realized that I did use an extreme amount of swear words haha but it's so true though that so many people swear now! So many of my friends swear on a regular basis, but I'll definitely keep what you said in mind with my writing. Thanks for the advice! :)

**dhequeenbee - **thanks for taking the time to read my story :) and I'm glad you like Hayley! I'm trying to make her as two-dimensional as I can, and this is my first story that I'm really trying to make characters believable, so I'm happy that you like her :)


	18. Moonstruck

_aloha everyone! I'm so sorry that this is late! I meant to get this up last weekend, but my english teacher gave us a project right after my social studies one was due and I had to finish that before I finished this unfortunately :( I love writing this chapter, but I'm not sure if I completely happy with it, but I wanted to get something up, so I hope you all like it! :)_

_I also hope that everyone prays for what happened in Japan the other day. That's so devastating to everyone there and to people who are waiting to hear back from loved ones there. If anyone is experiencing that, I'm so sorry and I hope everything turns out alright for you!_

_On a lighter note, WE REACHED 100 REVIEWS! :D I know that I say this all the time, but you guys are freaking AMAZING! :D I reached 100 reviews on both of my stories this last update, and I was sooooooooooo excited! :D and for the people reading _Deadly Secrets_, the next chapter will be up soon, I just have to finish writing it haha_

_Review responses are on the bottom again, and enjoy!_

* * *

_All my life I've been good but now, I'm thinking 'What the hell.' All I want is to mess around, and I don't really care about if you love me, if you hate me, you can't save me, baby, baby. All my life I've been good but now, whoa 'What the hell!'_

~ Avril Lavigne, _What the Hell_

_

* * *

_

(Jake POV)

"Pool covers? Why are these on the windows? And where did you even get them?" Embry asked. Did it matter? She wanted to have pool covers on her windows so let her be. I could hear Embry about to take down the pool cover and I mentally groaned. Why did he have to make a big fuss over everything?

Hayley struggled again me and I pulled my arm tighter around her. "Don't leave," I mumbled.

"Embry,_ don't!_" she yelled. I snapped my eyes open. "_STOP!_"

Hayley froze as she looked at the window. I tried shaking her back to normal, but it was no use. She didn't even glance away from that stupid window.

"What did you do to her?" I growled at Embry.

He put his hands up in self-defense. "I didn't do anything!"

"Right," Jared said sarcastically. "You definitely didn't listen to her and not open the window. You _totally _didn't do _anything_."

"Stop ganging up on me! You guys always gang up on me!" he pouted.

"Because you the easiest to gang up on," Jared said.

Hayley started pulling on my arm again and I let her go. She walked over to the window and kept staring at it.

"Hale?" Sam asked. "You okay? Hayley?"

She turned back around with a huge smile on her face. "Why wouldn't I be fine?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side. "You know what guys! I've got a great idea!"

We waited for a few minutes for what her great idea was, but we got nothing from her. She just kept smiling at all of us and bouncing in place. "And what's this great idea?" Sam asked warily.

"Huh?" she asked. "What're you talking about? I don't have a great idea. Oh! I know what we can do! It's an amazing idea!"

We all looked at each other. I turned back to her. "Hayley? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Like I said, why wouldn't I be all right? I want to go downstairs. Do you want to go downstairs? Let's go downstairs!" she exclaimed. She skipped out of the room and down the hall towards the stairs.

"Does anyone else think that she's acting slightly strange?" Quil asked.

"Slightly? I would lean more towards asylum insanity, but you know, whatever," Jared said while shaking his head. "But what do you think's wrong?"

"No idea. I say-"

A crash resounded from downstairs, interrupting Sam. We glanced at each other before racing down the stairs. I grabbed the railing as I turned the corner and rushed into the kitchen. My eyes widened at what I saw. Hayley was laying on the floor with the sink on, almost full and threatening to spill over at that, and a dish broken at her feet. And to top it all off, she was giggling like mad.

I ran over to her. "Are you crazy?" I hissed. "I thought you were the one who said that you didn't want people to know, and now you leaving the sink to spill over and get water all over you?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sam asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." I waved him off. "Not what to do with you," I mumbled to her. I picked her up bridal style and she snuggled into my chest, giggling all the while.

"You're warm, you know that? Like really, really, really warm," she giggled.

"I know that, Hale," I sighed while starting to walk over to the couch. Tonight was going to be a long night. I sat on the couch and let out a sigh.

"Don't leave, okay? I don't want to be cold anymore," she said as she grabbed my shirt and held close to me without any trace of giggling. I wrapped my arms tighter around her.

A few minutes passed and I looked down at her. She was staring off into space, and when I went to look at what she was staring at, it was a freaking window again! "Please stop looking at the stupid windows, Hale," I said while brushing hair out of her face. "It's doing something to you, and I don't know what."

The room became brighter as the clouds moved from in front of the moon I guess, and she jolted in my arms. "Oh! I've got a great idea!"

"Here we go with that again," Embry sighed. "Will she ever _tell_ us what this amazing idea is?"

Hayley wiggled out of my arms and fell to the floor in a lump. She bent over and started giggling again. Her hair covered her face as she stayed bent over.

"Okay, this giggling really needs to stop," Paul said. "It's giving me a headache."

We all gathered in a circle around Hayley. "I wanna go outside!" Hayley squealed. "Let's go outside!" She dashed for the door, but I caught her in time.

"No, you have to stay here," I commanded. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and I mentally groaned. I'm sorry, but I did not want to deal with Emily right now. I had enough on my plate.

She came into the adjoining room and motioned us over. Reluctantly, we all went over. How much could Hayley do when we were just a few feet away, right?

"What's going on?" Emily asked, tightening her bathrobe around her.

"Hayley's acting insane," Paul said bluntly.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked, confused. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at all of us with questioning looks.

"Hayley's acting really weird," I said. "She's extremely hyper and she's like a big ball of energy."

Sam sniffed the air. "What's that smell?" he asked. He grabbed Emily's hand, and then slid his hand inside the pocket of her bathrobe. He took out a piece of paper and opened it.

"Oh! I forgot. That came in the mall for you this morning, and I put it in my pocket to make sure that I gave it to you, but I guess I forgot. Sorry babe," she said.

"It's okay," he said as he continued opening the letter. Eventually we could all smell the faint, horrible smell, and we scrunched our noses in distaste. Sam's growl brought us back to him and the letter that was getting crumpled in his hand.

"What is it?" Jared asked.

"The Cullens. They want to talk with us. Something about Hayley. I swear, one day I'm not going to be able to stop myself from ripping their heads off."

Everyone who knew her secret gave each other glances.

"What do they want with her?" I asked angrily. They were really pissing me off. Just leave us the hell alone already.

"I don't know. They didn't say," Sam responded.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Hayley, but she was gone! "What the hell?" I yelled. "Where'd she go?"

We all ran outside, trying to find her scent. I followed it to La Push beach, with the others following behind me. I ran to a lone dock on the far end of the beach. It was used for fishing a really long time ago, and hasn't been used since. Without thinking that the dock might not be stable, I ran onto it and crouched down.

"Hayley?" I asked. "Are you there?"

"Where did she go? The water?" Sam asked.

Two hands shot up from the water and grabbed the edge of the deck. Slowly, Hayley started to appear out of the water. When her eyes were just above the edge of the deck, she stopped and started talking. "Why wouldn't I be here? This is where I always am."

"What are you talking about Hale? Come on out of the water now. This is crazy," Sam said. "Why are you in there in the first place? I thought that you hated going in the water."

"Who ever said that?" she asked darkly. "Who ever said that must be a liar. And you know, it's not good to be a liar. Liars get punished."

"What are you talking about Hayley?" I asked, worried. Something strange was going on, and I didn't like it.

"Oh, come on. Security? Community service? We all know that's not what you guys_ really_ do. And like I said, liars get punished."

A huge wave of water came from the other side of the dock and splashed us all, making us soaked. I heard her laugh and she popped up on the side of the dock where the water came from. "Did you like that?" she asked.

"You did that?" Embry asked, stumped. We were all stumped. How could she make a wave that big?

She raised her eyebrows and gave us a smirk. She shrugged her shoulders and went under the water again. She popped up at the edge of the dock so that she was the farthest away from the beach as she could go while still touching the dock.

"Are you afraid?" she whispered.

"No," Paul said fiercely.

"Well you should be. I gotta go, but have fun! It's time for me to go swimming!" She raised her hand a a bolt of lightening came down and struck in front of Paul. Wind started swirling around us and we couldn't see a thing from all of the sand flying everywhere, even with our extreme eyesight. By the time that the wind died down, Hayley was gone.

"Shit!" I yelled. I kicked the dock, almost breaking it, and stormed towards the beach.

"What's that?" Sam asked, pointing out towards the distant ocean. I turned back around.

There was Hayley, extremely far out in the ocean, looking up towards the sky. With one last glance, she dove underwater, her tail flipping out above the water for everyone to see.

"Holy shit," Sam and Quil whispered. Holy shit indeed.

* * *

_So I hope I didn't disappoint you guys! So what do you think would be the wackiest thing you'd do if you were moonstruck? I don't even want to know what I would do if I was haha Does anyone actually know if there is any connection to the moon and what the mermaids do when they're moon struck? Or is it just random stuff? Until next time, see ya guys! (And hopefully this time next time will be much soonerr :) )_

_**ElenaSalvaore171993 **- __I'm so glad that you liked it :) and I really loved that part too haha I think it was my favorite part in the chapter to tell you the truthh. and I definitely keep that in mind if I ever get stuck haha_

**Magick1014 **- _thanks! I'm happy you like it!_

**ElenaxoxoSilber **- _yay! I'm happy you like it that much! :D I think that's amazing haha and sure! I'll go check it out once I get the chance, which will hopefully be soonnn :)_

**HP **- _thanks! and this is really random haha, but is HP for harry potter? cause that's what came to my mind when I saw it haha_

**Queen Lucy The Valient **- _thanks :) I know it was a really long time since I last updated, but I hope it's still not too late!_

**dhequeenbee **- _ahhh! I know! When I was writing it, I was like why are you doing this Embry? He has no knowledge of privacy :P and I feel for youu. I don't have that kind of problem cause I have all girl cousins except for one who is younger than me, but that seems horrible. My cousins used to take all of my stuff inside of looking through it haha_

**Three Funky Sister **- _I'm glad you like it! and thanks! I try really hard to make my grammar right, so it's easy and more fun to read. I hate when you find a good story, but it's hard to read because of the grammar :( but thanks again! :)_


	19. Home

hi everyone! so I think I'm getting better with updating this story if I'm not mistaken, am I right? :) so thank you all soo much for the reviews! you guys are all freaking amazing! I'm gonna keep this note short, so enjoy! :D

* * *

_So I'm going home, back to the place where I belong. And where your love has always been enough for me._

~ Daughtry, _Home_

* * *

The sun was shining bright overhead, a rarity for the small town of La Push. The waves rolled back and forth across the sandy beach, and if you looked closely at the water's edge, you may just get a glimpse of what every sailor in the ancient world wanted to see at least once in their lifetime - a mermaid.

I groggily opened my eyes as the light blinded me. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was laying on my bed with Jake. My head pounded and I put my hand to my forehead. I rubbed my temples as I sat up, but I fell back down as soon as I got up. My abdomen throbbed and when I looked down I saw bruises across my stomach. I glanced at my tail and saw small scrapes littered around the scales. What exactly happened last night?

I squeezed my hand like I was squeezing a lemon over my tail and steam started to appear all around me. However, it soon disappeared and I saw my legs, with the scratches still ever present. I stood up quickly, trying to ignore the pain on my stomach, but I soon felt dizzy and I fell down again. This time, I slowly stood up, using the rock next to me for help. I looked around and recognized the place as the area where me and Jake washed up on the shore when Jared threw me off the cliff. I smirked at the memory.

I slowly started walking towards the house, and it took a good thirty minutes to walk the path that normally would have taken five minutes.

I opened the door to the house, walking inside. "Hello?" I called out. No one answered.

I walked through the house towards the backdoor. The harsh wind blew past me as I walked outside again. I decided to wait for all of them on the swing that faced the woods. I knew that they would find me.

I was slowly nodding up, and I was almost asleep when I felt the buzz in my pocket. I pulled my phone out and answered Cleo's call.

"Hello?"

"Hey! So how was your night? I can tell you ours was eventful, but I think we're finally getting the hang of this thing!"

"You know as much as I do about last night. But lucky you!"

"You mean you don't know what happened? You don't remember anything at all?"

"Nada. Nothing. Nothing at all. I just woke up on the beach this morning. Luckily no one was there, but still."

"Geez," Cleo said, and I knew that she was fiddling with her hands. "That's horrible. I'm sure you'll find out eventually though."

"I sure hope so. I just hope nothing bad happened last night." I heard multiple car doors slam and I knew that they were home. "Sorry Cleo. Everyone just got home. I gotta go fix whatever mess happened last night."

"Good luck!" she said, and I hung up the phone.

I knew that they knew that I was out on the back porch, so I waited for all of them to come out to me. I heard footsteps through the house and I pulled my legs up to my chest. They sounded really mad. I couldn't have done anything that bad so that they couldn't handle it, could I?

"Hayley!" Sam's voiced roared as he slammed open the back door. I jumped at the sound. "What the hell happened last night? Care to explain why the hell you have a tail?"

Sam was trembling slightly in front of me. I never saw him this mad before.

"Dude! Call down! It's nothing to flip out over! We kind of have tails too, you know," Paul said to my defense. I still didn't see anything wrong with him.

"_Everyone out, now,_" Sam commanded.

They all gave each other wary looks. Were they really going to leave me alone with Sam when he was this angry?

"_Now,_" he growled.

They starting shuffling slowly away, and eventually they were all out the door.

I guess they were going to leave. Traitors.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were a mermaid?" he demanded.

I crossed my arms and huffed. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a werewolf?" I shot back.

His eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

"I saw you guys," I said confidently, although inside I was shaking like a wimp.

He stared at me, then sighed loudly and sat down on the too-small chair in the corner of the porch. "I never wanted this... never wanted this at all... never..." he kept mumbling.

"Why not?" I asked, trying to get him out of his trance.

He looked up at me. "You've seen Emily's scars."

"Yeah. And what about them?"

He opened his mouth time and time again, but he couldn't get anything out. His face was contorted in pain, and I finally realized what happened.

"Oh my God..." I whispered. My hand flew to my mouth. That's... that's not possible. How could he ever do that to her?

"It was a few months ago, when I first started phasing," he said with his face in his hands. "I wasn't very good at controlling my temper then, and Emily's parents came to visit. They didn't really approve of me because of what I did to Leah, and they insulted me every chance they got. I was so angry by the end of it. They left, and as I thought about the day, I flipped out. Emily tried to calm me down, but it didn't work. I phased and did that to her.

"I didn't want anything like that to happen again. I know that what I did to her could never be forgiven. I've ruined part of her life, and yet she still forgave me. But I knew I couldn't do that again. And so when you came here, I didn't want you to find out. If you did, you might've gotten hurt like Emily did, so I ordered them not to tell you." He started shaking a little, and I knew he was starting to cry.

"You've put all of the blame on yourself, haven't you? You never actually gotten over this, have you?" I asked. I walked over and hugged him, trying to comfort him.

"I never will forget it. As long as I live, I never will. It's not something that I can forget. And no, I haven't. There was no one to talk to when it first happened, and by the time someone phased, it was too late to talk to anyone about it."

"Well, you know I'm always here if you need something. None of the guys need to know, you know," I said.

"Thanks, Hale. You have no idea how much that means to me."

I smiled. "C'mon. I'm sure your starving. Let's go eat," I suggested.

We walked inside and as soon as we stepped foot into the kitchen, all of the guys walked into the kitchen, pushing each other around. It was weird - it was like they all had an internal system that told each other what everyone else was doing.

I glanced at all of the guys, and my heart immediately dropped, although at first I didn't know why. It took me a little while to realize it was because Jake wasn't there. When I thought about it, he wasn't anywhere near here all day. Where was he?

As I watched all the guys eat, I felt a wave of tiredness, and so I said goodbye to all of the guys and I went upstairs. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, waiting to finally get some rest after a rough night.

Thoughts plagued my mind as I tried to fall asleep. When I became a mermaid, I felt that I was at home in the water, but things changed when I got here. Now, when I was in my house with all of the guys, that was when I felt truly at home. Who knew that moving would actually be good?

Right before I fell asleep, I felt extreme heat wrap around my body, and I was instantly comforted. I smiled as I drifted off into sleep. I really was home.

* * *

so I hoped you all liked it! sorry if its kind of a filler chapter, but I'm trying to set up where I want to take this story. any idea what happened at the end with the warmth? :P

** DramaQueen17MrsZacharyEfron** - thank you so freaking much! and I'm glad your friend's dad is okay! and you welcome :) and that question will be answered in the next few chapters, so be on the look outt :)

**ElenaxoxoSilber **- thanks so much! to tell you the truth, when I was writing it, I was like am I doing this right? cause I have no idea how to write a moonstruck mermaid haha

**THE FIRST FEMALE LYCAN** - thank youu! I'm glad you thought it was funny :) and they know that something's up, but whether or not they know about her being a mermaid is still a secret :P

**dhequeenbee **- haha that would have been funny! I can just imagine it happening :P and you'll find out soon, don't worry :)

**HP **- thank youu! well you just have awesome initials then! haha


	20. Support, The Basis of Friendship

A/N: hey everyonee! so sorry for the extremely late update, unfortunately things got in the way, but now its summer and that means more time! :D so I'm going to keep this note short, but there were three points that I wanted to say:  
1. I'll be uploading Deadly Secrets within the next hour for the people who read that! :)  
2. I've uploaded new things onto my youtube account, so if you have the time, please go check them out! one of them is actually based on the song in the preface at the beginning of this chapter. if you liked POTC 4, I think you'll like that one haha all of them are on my profilee. and how many people would be interested in another trailer or video for this story? I would love for some feedback if you guys want it :)  
3. and thank you so very much for your review/favorites/alerts! you guys make my day when I see them! :D enjoy!

* * *

_"And I don't want the world to see me 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am."_

~ Iris, _The Goo Goo Dolls_

* * *

It was relatively calm for the next few weeks. Our lives fell into a set schedule, and it felt good to not have to keep me being a mermaid from all of them. As far as I knew, there were no more secrets in the Uley household. However, there was still one more problem. None of my friends in Australia knew that my friends here knew about me being a mermaid, but I'd save that problem for another time.

By the time I woke up that morning, everyone had already come and gone from my house. I walked downstairs to find Em cooking me a breakfast of a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel, and she placed it in the table as soon as I sat down.

"There's supposed to be this really huge storm later today," Em said. "I'll pick you up right after school. The news says that they don't really know exactly when it's going to hit and how hard it's going to hit. Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

I nodded my head, unable to speak because of the food in my mouth.

"Good. Now come on, you're going to be late for school." Emily was my official driver since I didn't have a permit or license and the wolves were always either patrolling or sleeping, so none of them could bring me anywhere.

It didn't take long to get to Forks High School, and soon I was sitting in my first period physics class, ready to take a test that I was not looking forward too.

* * *

"Did you see how he freaking switched the battery terminals? I didn't notice till the end, and I barely had time to finish!" Lily ranted to me.

"Same here!" I exclaimed. "I was so close to failing that test because of that!"

"Wait," Ashley said, stopping in her tracks. "He _what?_"

"He switched the battery terminals from the way we're used to," I said.

Ashley groaned and smacked her head. "I was counting on that test to bring my grade up."

"Me too," Alex said. "Looks like that's not gonna happen."

"Hey Alex!" Mike Newton greeted, interrupting our conversation. Everyone in our group except Alex knew him as the junior that was "in love" with Bella Swan.

"Hey Mike," he said. "What's up?"

"Me and few people are going surfing later at First Beach. You wanna come?"

"You know that there's supposed to be a huge storm later, right?" I asked.

"Exactly," he grinned. "So are you coming?"

"Sure," Alex said, and Mike ran off.

"You're crazy," I said, shaking my head. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around. I was shocked at who I saw.

"Can I talk to you at lunch for a second?" Alice whispered to me.

"Um, sure," I said.

"Meet me outside in the parking lot at the beginning of lunch." I nodded my head and she left to catch up with the rest of her family.

"What was that about?" Alex asked.

"No idea," I replied. "I just know that I'm not looking forward to it."

* * *

Lunch rolled around and I walked towards the parking lot. I tightened my hand around my bag. None of the Cullens had talked to me since I went to their house. Alice and I even ignored each other during class. What did they have to say to me now?

I found Alice waiting at her brother's silver volvo and leaning against the door. I walked up to it and stopped a few feet away, waiting for her to talk.

It was a couple of minutes before she spoke. "Why do you take physics and chemistry?"

I shrugged. "Science is my thing," I said. "And it fit with my schedule. But I know that's not what you really wanted to ask me, so what is it?"

"I'm assuming that you know about the letter," she said as she walked towards me.

I took a step back. "What are you talking about? What letter?"

She looked confused. "They didn't tell you? I thought Carlisle directed it at everybody, including you."

"No, they didn't tell me," I said, crossing my arms. "What was in the letter?"

"Here's a second one. We made another copy in case you didn't receive the first one." I took the letter from her hands. "Please tell the pack leader that we would like a response."

"How do you know about the pack?" I asked, bewildered.

"Why wouldn't we know about the pack? We've had a treaty with them for the past hundred years."

"100 years? I don't find that quite believable. But just to humor me, what treaty would that be?"

"The one that says werewolves can't be phased on our lands, and in return, we vampires wouldn't be allowed on Quileute land." And with that, she left.

* * *

I was in a daze for the rest of the day, and the car ride home with Emily was terrible. Emily tried to ask me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer her. How was that even possible? There was no freaking way that they could be vampires! They didn't have the red eyes that the girl had or the lust to kill. They went to a freaking high school! I still thought that vampires lived alone and slept in a coffin.

I jolted as Emily stopped the car. "Hale, you're really starting to scare me. _Are you okay?_"

I finally got myself to nod at her. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said shakily. I walked into the house, ran up to my room, and slammed the door shut. I couldn't take it anymore! This was too much for one person to handle! I looked around my room in distress for a moment before grabbing my phone, throwing it in my pocket, and running out the door.

"I'm going out!" I yelled to Emily. "I'll be back later!"

"Hayley! Don't be out to late! Remember about the storm!"

I waved her off and started running to first beach. It was the only place that I could actually think clearly. I ran through the woods where that first horrible meeting happened and found myself on the sand. I saw Alex and the other guys from my school trying to ride some waves, which they were completely failing at. I smiled a tight grin at their direction because of their failure. They would never be able to surf the waves in Australia if this was the best they had.

Making sure that they weren't looking, I jumped into the water, and as soon as I sprouted my tail, I swam to the moon pool. It didn't take very long to to get there, and soon I was sitting on the ground near the water with my cell phone in my hand.

The ringing seemed to go on forever until someone finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Cleo?" I asked, almost about to break down.

"Hayley? What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"I can't take it here anymore. There's so much stuff that I didn't know and it's too much and you know how I get when I don't know things or overwhelmed. I just wanna go back to Australia and leave everything behind," I rambled. I started crying and tried to stifle my tears.

"Its gonna be okay, Hale. Everything's going to work out. Do you wanna tell me what happened?"

I nodded, but then realized that he couldn't see me, so I told her yes. "But I don't even know where to start, Cleo," I cried.

"Start from the beginning, sweetie," she cooed, trying to get me to talk.

"We're not the only thing out there, Cleo. There are werewolves and vampires and they're living right here!"

I heard the phone drop and clatter to the floor, and another thud came soon after. "Cleo? Cleo!" I yelled trying to get her attention.

A rustling sound came through the phone. "You're not serious, are you? Please tell me you're joking," she whispered.

"I'm not," I said. "It's completely insane here, Cleo. I don't think I can take anymore of this! I just wanna go back home!"

"Come back home," she said. "How do you know what will happen with all of those things there? How are they going to react to a mermaid? I'm going to look up stuff and have Lewis help me."

"You can't tell him though, Cleo! I don't even think I was supposed to tell you, but I couldn't not tell you."

"Okay," she said after some hesitation. "I won't tell him, but I have to go. Charlotte's coming."

"Good luck with her. And be careful! I don't think that those things are only native to Forks," I warned her.

I hung up the phone and laid in the sand around the moon pool. My eyes slowly closed and I fell into my own world were vampires didn't exist.

* * *

I woke up from something hard hitting my head. Groaning, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I looked to my left and saw the rocks right before the moon pool. I guess I hit my head on that. I took my phone out of my pocket and glanced at the screen.

"Holy-!" I trailed off. 22 missed calls. 6 from Sam, 3 from Embry, 2 from Emily, and 11 from Jacob.

I threw my phone into my pocket, deciding that I would talk to them when I got home. I stood up and jumped into the clear water. I felt my tail appear and rushed out of the cave.

When I got out, the ocean was much more chaotic than when I came in. I rose to the top of the surface to see what was going on, but as soon as my face was above the water, harsh rain pelted it, making it sting.

Realization hit me. I totally forgot about the storm! That's why they called me so many times!

I was about to go under water again when I saw something floating in the ocean. Curious, I began to swim towards it. It kept moving out to sea towards the moon pool, and the storm was making it hard to keep up with the object.

"Shit!" I screamed as I saw what the thing was. Mike Newton was floating out to sea on one of his surfboards. I dashed over to him and, seeing that he was unconscious, grabbed the surfboard to bring him to land.

I started towards the mainland, but soon realized that it was too far to take him back there in this type of weather. Reluctantly, I brought him to the moon pool. It was difficult to make sure that he stayed on the surfboard as I swam as fast as I could to the cave. Finally I got there and I dragged him up to the floor of the cave. I pulled myself up as well, dried myself off quickly, and checked him over to see if anything was wrong.

I couldn't find any huge injuries, just some scratches here and there, which I was entirely thankful about. I had no idea what I would do if he had some life-threatening injury. I wanted to be a doctor, but I still had no idea what to do in these types of situations.

I started pacing around the cave. What was I supposed to do with him? It was too dangerous to bring him back to shore, but when he finally woke up, how was I supposed to explain to him how he got there and how I can't go out of the moon pool with him when help came, if it ever would? I mean, there was an opening right from the moon pool to the ocean, although it was very small, and so you didn't have to go under water to get out, but you still had to go in the water.

What would happen if another person found out about the secret? It's not like I was friends with him or anything, so he had no reason to keep the secret if he found out except for me asking him to.

"What-?" I heard someone trail off. I panicked ad jumped in the water, shooting off toward mainland as soon as I got out of the moon pool. I reached the shore a few minutes later and was happily surprised that the storm was over. If it wasn't, I'd be stranded in the ocean.

I quickly tried myself off and rushed home, promising myself I would send an anonymous note to the police about Mike. I was halfway home and was in the woods when I saw it again. Four figures rushed past me, and then one was coming right at me.

I screamed as a large brown object jumped over my head and crashed into the other figure. The brown one took the other figure in it's mouth a threw it a few meters away and into a tree.

The brown figure started circling around me, and I stood frozen in fear.

"Jake?" I whispered as my voice broke. Please let it be Jake, and not one of the other wolves, or even worse, Sam. I'd be screwed.

The wolf nudged my side and I let a relieved sigh. He kept circling around me and growling every once in a while until the rest of the wolves came back. Only then was I completely relieved. The black wolf looked at me with a disapproving and mad glare, and I knew immediately that it was Sam.

"I'm sorry?" I said. I knew that it wasn't going to cut it, but there wasn't much else I could do. "I didn't mean to be gone for the storm, but I was swimming and I kinda fell asleep at an island that I found." I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at them sheepishly.

He gave me a look that said he'd talk to me later, and I sighed in defeat. Jack nudged my side and laid down to the ground, motioning to his back.

"Oh no," I said. "There is no way that that's happening. Sorry."

I started walking towards the house when I heard him whimper. "Jake! I said no!" I sighed in exasperation.

I heard him humph, but he was soon following me home while the other wolves stayed where they were. When I got home, I said bye to Jake, kissed his forehead, and rushed into the house and into my room. I dialed and *67ed the three digit number.

"Hello? What's your emergency?"

"Hi. I found some boy floating out to sea and into some cave by First Beach. I think he's in trouble."

* * *

**ElenaxoxoSilber** - _haha I'm glad you got it :P and thank you so much!_

**lamia vampress** - _thank you so much! that is seriously one of the best reviews I have ever received, and it made me feel so good :D you are a freaking amazing reviewer! I sincerely hope you enjoy the story! :D_

**unlovedtears14** - _thank you! and to tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure haha when the mermaids in H20 cried, they didn't turn into mermaids, so I'm making the assumption that any kind of liquid that comes from someone's body, such as tears, won't affect them_


	21. Emergency

PLEASE READ: hey everyone! so who'e excited for the HARRY POTTER PREMIERE! :D I'm so excited! Going to see it in 7 hours! :DD so anyway, a few things I wanted to mention:  
1. Does anyone know how to punctuate someones reading a newspaper article correctly? You'll see what I mean when you read the story.  
2. Does anyone want me to do an updated trailer of this story or _Deadly Secrets_? check out the old one on my profile!  
3. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! and also thank you to all the new reviewers :) you guys are amazing with your reviews/favorites/alerts! :D enjoy!

* * *

_"I think we have an emergency. I think we have an emergency! If you though I'd leabe then you were wrong, 'cause I won't stop holding on. So are you listening? So are you watching me?"_

~ Emergency, _Paramore_

* * *

_Boy Found in Cave Alive and Well with Help of Mysterious Phone Call_

That was the headline that I saw for days. Nothing very exciting happened in Forks, so when this story came out, people started gossiping for hours and wanted to read and hear everything they could get their hands on about the story. I never bothered looking at it - it was all lies anyway. Mike didn't know what happened.

That's exactly what I told Cleo when she called me. She, however, didn't have the same opinion as me.

"Get that article right now! So what if he gets the wrong story. I want to hear what he said!"

I groaned. "Cleo..."

"Now!"

I got up from my bed and headed out the door. "I hate you right now, you know that right?"

"Yeah, right," she laughed. "You could never hate me. You almost there?"

"I just started walking! I'm barely out of my house."

"Fine," she said, exasperated.

It was a few minutes before she started again. "You there now?"

"No."

One minute later. "Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No! Geez! I'll tell you when I get there!"

A few minutes later I was walking into the store and bought myself a copy of all of the papers with the story mentioned in it. I payed the cashier, went out the door, and found myself a place to sit.

"I got them," I said. I could hear her shout yes in the background and I stifled a snicker. "Okay, let's see. This one's from Sunday:

"_'A little fun at First Beach turned deadly for one Forks High senior. A group of friends, along with Mike Newton, went down to the beach to surf some waves, and this poor teenager was the last one left after his friends decided to go home. Newton wanted to ride one last wave, but this wave took him out to sea. He was knocked unconscious and when he woke up, he found himself in a cave. His surfboard was floating in the water, and he was lying on the ground. Newton was not able to be reached at the current time for questioning and the police have not dished out any details, but as soon as new information is found out, you'll be the first to know!'_

"Oh wow!" I laughed. "This has so many holes in the story that it's not even funny."

"What does the next one say?" Cleo said impatiently. "Read it! Read it!"

"You're more excited for this than I am! Okay, this one's from Tuesday:

"_'I went to interview Mike Newton yesterday, and let me tell you, this story is getting juicier! Here's a breakdown of our interview:_

_Hannah Prosh (HP) - So everyone's been dying to know, what's your take on the story?_

_Mike Newton (MN) - Like you're article said, me and my friends were surfing and they all decided to go home. I wanted to ride some more waves, so I stayed out there. One wave became so powerful that it knocked me out and took me out to sea. I don't remember much about that time, although I do remember waking up a few times. I was hanging onto my surfboard and when I opened my eyes, I saw a trail of water making waves behind me. That wouldn't happen if the water was just carrying me, so I knew that something had to be dragging me. A fin popped out of the water, almost like a dolphin. One of the only things I remember from biology is that there are rarely any dolphins out here, so I have no idea what happened. After that, I remember waking up on the ground in a cave. Once again, I have no idea how I got on the ground. But I opened my eyes just in time so see something jump in the water. To me it seemed like a girl, but the doctors told me that I may have seen illusions due to my condition, so I'm not sure._

_HP - That's incredible! That's a story that going to be told for ages. So, rumor has it that you had a video camera while you were surfing. Is it true? Did you find anything from that?_

_MN - Yes, it's true, but it got damaged so I don't know if I'm going to be able to get the tape out. We were having a contest with another group of friends to see who could have the most views on a video on YouTube, and we thought surfing would be a great video, so I put a waterproof videocamera on my surfboard. At this point the tape hasn't given any information to us, but we'll see in a few days. My friend is trying to fix it, so hopefully it'll tell us more._

_HP - Amazing! Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope to talk to you again soon!_

_Keep checking our newspaper to see any updates on our story. This may become the next big hit!'_"

After I finished reading, I was speechless. This was getting way to close to the truth.

"Wow," Cleo said. "That's... that's not good at all. It's almost like that time with Emma and Zane."

"We barely got out of that one. Are we going to have another person obsessed with mermaids on this side of the ocean?"

We were both silent.

"Look, I gotta go. Maybe I can try to find some way to stop this."

"Sure. See ya."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and stared at the store. What was I going to do? Try to talk to Mike? Find out who the friend was and try to get the tape from him? It was worth a shot. I headed down towards Forks and thought about who could be the friend. Definitely not Jessica. Probably not Angela. Eric? He seemed like the best choice.

I was almost to Forks when Jake pulled up on his motorcycle. Great.

"Hey Hale," he said with his ever present smile on his face.

"Hey Jake," I greeted, but I kept on walking. Jake kept pace with me.

"So, umm... I was wondering what you were doing today?" he asked nervously. Why was he nervous? It's not like he never asked what I was doing.

"Look, Jake, I can't talk right now, okay?"

"But I really have to talk to you," he pleaded. He grabbed my arm, trying to hold me back. I closed my eyes, took a deep breathe, and turned to him.

"I'm really sorry, but I've got more important stuff to do."

"Oh, what're you doing?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"I have to find Eric, that's all. I'm sorry, but I really do have to go." His arm tightened and I snatched it away before it became too tight. I waved bye to Jake and started running towards the school. I quickly looked back as I was running and didn't see Jake waiting there, so I was finally able to rub my arm. Whether he meant to or not, his hold on my arm hurt, but I probably deserved it after the way I talked to him. I'd have to apologize to him after I talked to Eric. I think I was too harsh on him.

Putting the incident in the back of my mind, I returned my focus to my school. Eric would be there for yearbook, or video, or something. He just had to be. I had to find him. If I didn't, this could get a lot more ugly than we ever thought. Emma and Rikki were going to kill me.

* * *

**lamia vampress** - once again, thank you so much! I know Jacob hasn't been mentioned much, but I'm glad you liked it! but also don't worry, he'll have bigger and better roles in the near futuree :) and thats a really funny idea haha I might just have to have Alice get some ass-kicking from Hayley! :P


	22. Should've When You Could've

**A/N:** aloha everyone! so just a quick thank you for all of you out there showing your support! :D espeicially **ElenaxoxoSilber**, **MissElenaSalvatoreEfron18**, and **lamia vampress**! they've been amazing readers/reviewers :) So I know that Jake hasn't been in it much in the last chapter, but he's coming back! and 130 reviews! :D I never thought I get that many with this story! so thank you and enjoy!

* * *

_I'm done chasing you all over. May as well be chasing after thunder. Play hard to get if it makes you happy. For a change now you can start chasing me._

~ Should've When You Could've, _Skillet_

* * *

I walked into the school with a purpose, and I wasn't going to leave until I found Eric, which I hoped would be sooner rather than later. I sped down the hallway and turned into the video wing of the school. It was my best bet on where he would be. He seemed like he was obsessed with videos. I walked into the video production room, and to my luck, he was there. As I focused on what he was doing, a smile crept onto my face. Someone up there must like me today.

"Hey Eric," I said, walking up to him. "What's up?"

He glanced to me. "Hayley? What are you doing here?" He turned his head back to the tape and continued to fiddle with it.

"I've always like filming and editing, so I finally decided to check out what our school had." I scanned all of the materials Forks High bought for the video production classes. Surprisingly, there was some pretty advance stuff. Macs were placed across two walls of the room, and there was a large cabinet of cameras and videos tapes in one corner of the room.

"I don't think your actually allowed to be here though," he protested.

"If I'm not allowed to be here, then you shouldn't be allowed to be here too, am I right?"

"Well, no... I mean yes... I mean it doesn't really matter because I'm head of the club and the video teachers love me. They wouldn't care. And besides, I'm part of the school, so I think that I should be able to use what they have."

"So then shouldn't I be able to, too?"

He groaned, accepting defeat. "Fine, whatever. Just don't touch anything."

"Fine with me. So... how are you and Angela doing?"

"We got into a fight last week," he said shortly. He was still fiddling with Mike's camera.

"Oh, I'm really sorry about that." I walked around the room until I came to a basket with unused tapes. Perfect.

"It's okay. One had to happen eventually. Now matter how hard you try, no relationship can be perfect. It just doesn't work like that."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that's right." I grabbed a tape from the basket, took the tape from the case, and then pocketed the case.

"You have no idea."

The silence dragged on until it began extremely uncomfortable. How was I supposed to switch the two tapes if he never got away from the original tape?

"So, how's your-"

"YES! I finally did it! I have to call Mike!" he exclaimed as he started packing everything up. I was running out of time!

"Wait!" He turned to me, the tape and the video camera still out the open and behind his back. I tightened my grip on the blank tape. "I just... I wanted..." I started panicking.

And then I kissed him.

To say it was a good kiss would be lying through my teeth. He responded and got into it, but he was an absolute horrible kisser. It was wet, and he started biting my lips, and then started shoving his tongue into my mouth! But it was the perfect opportunity to switch the tapes. I grabbed the original tape behind him and took it out of the video camera. It slid out easily, and I put the blank tape in its place. I slid the real tape into my pocket, and I finally ended the horrible kiss. The only thing that actually got me through that nightmare was the thought that I was kissing Jake instead. Now his kisses I loved.

"Wow," he said. "That was amazing." A sly smile slid on his face and he lifted his eyebrows suggestively. I tried to smile at him, but I think it came out more like a grimace.

"Yeah. Look, I really have to go, so -"

"Oh, come on," he said, as he put his hands on my waist and started to lean in again. A shiver ran down my spin, and it wasn't the good kind. He then started running his hands up and down my hips and progressively got closer and closer to me. I heard something break outside the door, and we both looked in that direction before he continued. "You know you want more."

"Sure," I said as I tried to get out of his hold. "But can we do it another time? I really have to go."

"Sounds good to me." He winked at me. "Just come and find me when you want to continue." He let go of me and I turned right around, walking out of there as fast as I could. I could still feel the taste of his tongue in my mouth. Disgusting.

As I walked out of the classroom, I saw a glass sculpture shattered into a million pieces on the floor. I looked up and saw the empty place on the shelf it once occupied. Whoever made that sculpture was not going to be a happy camper when they saw that. And whoever destroyed it was going to be in a whole lot of trouble with the artist.

I walked through the school and finally made it to the front door. I pushed the door open and stepped out into the sun. I was almost away from that horrible memory when I felt a warm hand grab my arm. I instantly felt at ease.

"What-?"

"You know, you didn't need to have to lead me on or anything. You could have just said you liked someone else."

I turned around and faced the person. "What are you talking about, Jake?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I really don't," I said stubbornly. "So if you would so kind as to explain to me what the heck you're talking about, that would be fabulous."

I could see slight hurt in his eyes. "I saw you kissing Eric back there, and you looked pretty into it. You didn't need to pretend to like me when you obviously like him so much."

My eyes widened in shock. "You were spying on me?" I yelled at him. As an afterthought, it probably wasn't the best thing to say in this situation, but it was the first thing that came to my mind.

Any hurt that was shown through his eyes was immediately covered up with anger after I shouted that, and he started shaking slightly. I didn't move though; I didn't want him to know that it still scared me when he did that. "I went into the school after you and saw you guys by accident! I hardly count that as spying!"

"You spied on me! That's ridiculous!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. "It's like you can't even trust me! Do you know how annoying that is? How is seems like you can't trust me to do anything on my own? It always seems like you're freaking there!"

"Fine. I won't bother you that much anymore," he said, strangely calm again. "I gotta go. See ya."

"Wait! Jake!" He waved me off. I don't think he knew how much that hurt me. "When one problem is solved, another arises. Just like everything else in life," I whispered to myself. I started walking the opposite way that Jake went, my phone in hand, ready to call Cleo and tell her what happened.

"Hello?" Cleo asked after she picked up the phone.

"Hey, Cleo. I got the tape. I'm gonna go home, watch it to sees what's on it, and find out if it was actually worth that much trouble to get it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I kissed the guy who had the tape so he would be distracted and I could switch the tapes and Jake saw the kiss."

"Oh God... Why didn't you just use another distraction?" she asked. "You know, drop something, make something fall over, anything like that."

"I wasn't thinking right. It was a now or never situation, and I couldn't think of anything else at the time."

"You gotta fix it, you know. Don't let this come between you two. Fix it while you can, while the situation's still fresh and can be molded."

"You know you just contradicted what most people would say when they give advice, right? Most would say not to talk to a person while the wounds are fresh. You should let them calm down, and then talk to them."

"But why do that? The longer you wait, the more chance that someone will come and snatch them and make every chance you have to make amends with them disappear. Take it from personal experience. It's never good to wait. Go right into the fight, and don't back down."

"Things still aren't going that well with Lewis, I'm presuming?"

"No, not at all. I'll fix it though. It'll just take some time. And for Charlotte to get out of the way."

"I still think I'm going to coming home for a while, so I'll help you then if you haven't already done it. Don't worry, we'll get rid of her."

"Good," she said.

"I'll talk to you later, I'm going to see how much the plane tickets cost. They can't be too horrible, right?"

"Let's hope not. See ya!"

"Bye," I said, ending the call. After a few more minutes of walking, I found myself at the front door of my house. The whole pack was in the living room and stared at me as I walked in. "What?"

"Eric? Really?" Paul asked, grimacing.

"What? Are you all going to give me grief about what I did? 'Cause I'm really, incredibly sick of it. I've already gotten enough grief from Jake. Tell him I want to talk to him when he gets here, too," I said before I walked into my room. I jumped onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling, wanting sleep to take me over.

A light knocking sound woke me up from my state of sluggishness. "Can I come in?" I heard Jake ask.

"Yeah," I said. Now here comes the hard part.

* * *

**ElenaxoxoSilber** **- **thank you! and as you can see, she does, but it doesn't end exactly is the right way haha and you will find out in a later chapter, but its a combination of things, so be prepared :P and yess, it's because I went to the premiere haha my friends and I had a great time :) but this time the chapter's longer, so I hope you enjoyed it!

**MissElenaSalvatoreEfron18 - **thank you! and once I get the time, I'll definitely be doing another trailer :)

**lamia vampress - **thank youu! and he may, or may not, the world may never know :P (every time I say that, I think of the old tootsie pop commercials if you know them haha) and I'l definitely will :P


	23. Trouble in Paradise

**A/N:** hey everyone! I'm sooo sorry that this update is so late! I was on vacation (where I wrote the next few chapters so be prepared for more frequent updates as soon as I change the format of the chapters since I wrote it on my Ipod's notepad) and then when I got home Hurricane Irene hit and we lost internet, otherwise I would have had this up a week and a half ago. Once again, so sorry!  
So we're kinda-sorta almost done with the story! There'll still be around 11 more chapters, but I'm also done planning out the rest of it! So I have two questions to ask:  
1. Are there any unresolved questions you want answered? Any questions that you're just curious about? Any loose ends that need to be tied up? I have a few of my own, but I want to know if there are any you're wondering about so I can include them in the final chapters :)  
2. Are there any suggestions/constructive criticisms you guys have? I want to become a better writer, and that all starts with you guys!  
So thank you guys so much for the alerts/favorites, and especially the reviews! And **Dreaming while awake** made a freaking awesome poster for this story, so go check it out! :) enjoy!

* * *

_You suffocate. You cannot wait for this to just be over. You wanna run and just be done, but what you can't control is what you're thinking. This ship is sinking!_

~ The Bottom, _Staind_

* * *

"Hey Jake," I greeted once he was in my room.

"Hey Hayley." I mentally winced at the lack of my nickname. That wasn't particularly comforting. "You wanted to talk?"

"Um, yeah. You wanna sit down?" I asked, pointing to the bed beside me. He nodded his head and took the seat, although it was a little farther than he usual sat. "Okay, so I wanted to talk about what happened today, if you don't mind..." I trailed off.

"No, I think that'd be good. I'm really sorry about what happened today. I shouldn't be angry about who you date or want to date, so I'm really -"

"No, no, no," I cut him off. "I should be the one that's sorry. I know how the situation looked, and I completely overreacted. I never should have been so defensive about it. I should've just told you right then and there what happened. I just have bad anger management issues sometimes," I said, grimacing.

He paused. "Then what exactly happened between you and Eric if it's not how it looked?" he asked.

"You know the articles that've been going around about Mike and his incident at First Beach?" He nodded. "Well, I was the one who saved him."

His eye widened and at first he shot me a disbelieving look. However, when I wouldn't back down, he finally started to crack and believe me. "You're not kidding, are you?" I shook my head. "Wow, that was really you? I thought he got lucky for once and the tides carried him to the cave."

"Nope. I was swimming when the storm came and I saw him out there, so I brought him to the cave and then when I got home, I called for help for him. And you know how in the newspaper articles he talked about a video tape? Well, I thought that it might have caught some of me or my tail, so I knew that I had to get it back. Eric was the one who ended up having the tape."

Realization started to dawn in his eyes. "And that's why you were with him today. But why kiss him?"

"He fixed the tape and was about to go to Mike with it, and I panicked. While we were kissing, I switched the real tape with a blank one. If it's any consolation, it was an absolutely horrendous kiss."

He laughed at that and I immediately smiled. "Well I'm glad. At least I don't have to worry about losing you to that awful kisser."

"I don't know about that. He was pretty hot," I joked. He raised his eyebrows as if saying yeah right. "Just kidding. You'll never lose me," I said as I nudged him.

"I hope not," he said under his breath, probably not expecting me to hear it. I never knew the severity of our two statements until much later. "I'm really sorry about the way I acted too, Hale," he said to me.

I shrugged it off. "It's alright. That's just how we are. We overreact, and then we make up. Friends?" _Or maybe more?_ I mentally added to myself.

"Friends," he said with a smile on his face. He pulled me into a huge hug and I ended up on his lap with his arms surrounding me. It caught me off guard, but I wasn't complaining. After a few minutes in total bliss he said, "Actually, that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about earlier today."

"Huh?"

"Remember when I said I had to ask you something? Well, there are two things I need to tell you." I looked at him expectantly. "Okay, so I don't want you to answer the first question until I tell you the second thing, alright?" I nodded. "Promise?"

"Promise."

He took a deep breath. "The first thing was that I wanted to ask you out on real, honest-to-goodness date. Not the types of things we've done before where we've just hung out, but a date where we go out to eat or go to a movie or something."

I was about to squeal and say yes but he cut me off. "You promised, remember?" I huffed in annoyance. "I'll take that as a yes. Now, I was going to tell you the second at a bonfire, because that's how most of the pack does it, but then I decided I wanted to be the one to tell you and I wanted it to be one-on-one. So I thought I'd tell you at the end of our first date, but with everything going on, I thought I should tell you now, especially since I got Sam to change his mind and I don't want him to change it again."

"Okay, shoot," I said as I got out of his lap.

"Have you ever heard of anything called imprinting?"

"I vaguely remember someone mentioning it, but I don't remember anything about it."

He looked ahead, almost as if he was afraid to say what he was going to say to me. "Imprinting is when you find your soul mate. It's like when you see him or her, your whole world stops and you care for that person like your life depends on it, which in a way it does. They become your everything."

He didn't mean...

"I'm going to feel like a complete idiot if I'm wrong, but is it..." I trailed off and pointed to myself. He nodded. "Oh... wow... well, this sure isn't something that you find out everyday," I said as I put my chin in my hands. My mind was whirling. What was all of this about? How did this affect everything? "So what does this exactly mean for... you know... us?"

"Whatever you want it to be," he told me.

"Your telling me to make a decision? Me? The most indecisive person in the world?"

"I guess that's not the best idea, is it?" he laughed. I was glad that even with the whole imprinting thing out in the air, we could still laugh and joke around with each other. Something was still nagging at the back of my mind, though.

"No," I agreed. "But for once I actually will decide on something. I want to go on that date. And I want it to be good. I want to go to a really fancy restaurant and go see a movie and then ice cream at Coldstone? Got it?" I said with a dead serious face.

"Your joking, right?" he asked timidly.

I smiled. "No need to worry. Anything will be perfect," I told him.

"That's great to hear," he said with a smile on his face. He pulled me into a hug which I gladly returned, but it was cut way too short for my liking.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What's this?" he asked, holding up the rectangular object.

"How the heck did you get that?" I asked as I checked the pocket where it once was. Finding that it truly was gone, I turned back to him and said, "It's Mike's tape that I took from Eric."

"Did you ever watch it yet?" he asked as he turned the tape over and over in his hands.

I shook my head. "Do you want to go watch it now?"

He grabbed my hand and started leading me down the stairs and towards the living. Warmth filled my body and once again, I felt right at home.

As we got downstairs, I noticed that none of the guys were there. "Where'd they all go?" I asked.

"I told them to leave for a little bit. They could tell that I wanted to talk to you alone really bad, so for once they actually listened and went for a run I think. They'll be back soon, though."

"Gotcha. I'm going to go get a drink. You want anything?"

"Can you get me a coke? I'm going to go see if I can find a video tape to put this one in so we can put it in the VHS."

"Good luck with that," I said as I walked toward the garage where I knew the soda was. Just as I was walking back with the two sodas in hand, I heard the door open and people come in. "Speak of the devils," I whispered under my breath.

"I heard that!" I heard one of them yell.

"Fabulous! That's absolutely fabulous!" I yelled back. I walked into the living room and I saw the pack (minus Jared-he was on patrol) and Emily scattered around the living room, leaving the couch open for me and Jake.

"So what're we watching?" Paul asked.

"A home video courtesy of Mike and Eric," I said as I sat down. Jake threw the tape in and pressed play before he came back to the couch. I handed him his soda and put my soda on the table in front of me. I snuggled into his side and he put his arm around me. I smiled to myself.

It took a few minutes to get to the actual storm part. There was some pretty good blackmail stuff of Mike and even of Alex on here, and I couldn't wait to make fun of Alex for it. The guys got a kick out it, too.

When we got to the storm part of it, however, the mood did a 180. My breathing started hitching and I felt suffocated. I could hear the boys talking to themselves and some of them were getting extremely mad.

And the maddest one of all was sitting next to me. He was shaking so hard that I was shaking with him.

The scenes replayed in my head over and over again.

That could not have happened.

* * *

**11ebq11 - **thank you! and it most definitely is problem causing haha she has a few temper problems :P but as for not telling the back, she wanted to confront Jake about it himself instead of the pack ending up telling him

**lamia vampress - **me too! and she has a few anger management problems/pride issues :P and hahahah! that comment about Eric made me laugh! and thank you so much! :D

**MissElenaSalvatoreEfron18 - **no problemo! good luck on you're things to do! and thank you! and she could've handled it differently, but where's the fun in that :P but glad you liked it! :D

**Silentmusic226 - **yupp! Jake knows about her being a mermaid. And I'm so glad you like it that much! :D

**sadnessgirl123 - **this chapter they watched it, but next chapter it's all going to be explained, so stay tuned ;)

**ElenaxoxoSilber - **si, it's most definitely going to get complicated! haha I hope you liked the chapter! :D

**H2Ofan87 - **thank you so much! :D I'm so happy you like it! and it bugged me sometimes when some details where missing when I read some stories, so I try to add the ones I think the readers will enjoy, and I'm glad you like them :)

**Hi. ImMariaa - **haha well that's no fun trying to search for itt, but I'm gad it was worth the trouble! haha and no problemo, one review is fabulous :) I hope this relieved you of your boredom! :P and no problem, the long reviews are the best :D haha


	24. Nightmare

**A/N: **hola everyone! so I know I said that I'd have another chapter sooner than this, and for that, I'm sorry! :( I never expected this much stress and work in the beginning of senior year, and so it's hit me and my friends harder than we thought. I've been trying to do my school work, do college stuff, and make sure that I have time to hang out with all of my friends, and it's been hard to find time to do write and make videos. I know that it's no excuse, but I just wanted to tell you guys this so that you know that although I may take a long time to update, I'm going to finish this story! Thanks for sticking with me! :D  
On a lighter note, thanks you guys all freaking much for the support/alerts/favorites/reviews! :D You people are amazing! Everything is always extremely appreciated! I hope you all enjoy this one! :)

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_While you're nightmare comes to life, can't wake up in sweat, cause it ain't over yet. Still dancing with your demons, victim of your own creation._  
~ Nightmare, _Avenged Sevenfold_

* * *

I was the last one in the room by the end of that night. A vampire coven was seen at the edge of La Push and the gang had to leave. Emily was in the kitchen baking like she usually did.

Half of me was concerned about what I just saw while the other half was scared shitless about my family. They've never gone against a whole coven before, and I was extremely scared about what the outcome would be. Would they make it out alive? Would any of them get hurt? Would they catch the vampires? Would they-

"No! Shut up!" I silently screamed to myself. They wouldn't get hurt. They couldn't. They had families and girlfriends and friends to go home to. They had so much to look forward to in life for it to end here.

I looked at Emily in the kitchen. How does she do it? How does she bake in there like nothing is wrong?

I stood up and took the tape out of the VHS. I walked to my room, opened my closet, and hid the tape in there. Hopefully no one would find it there. After I deemed the hiding place acceptable, I headed downstairs and sat at the kitchen table, watching Em bake.

"How do you do it?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"How do I do what?" She turned around to look at me, still mixing the mixture that was in the bowl.

"Bake while everything else is going on. Aren't you scared? Or does it get easier and I'm just new to it?"

She stopped stirring when she heard me. She set the bowl down on the counter and sat across from me at the table. She took my hands in hers and took a deep breath.

"As much as I'd like to say that it does get easier, it doesn't, especially when nights like these come around. Every time they leave, it seems like they're going off to war and you never know if they're going to be back. And it's absolutely dreadful when they go out.

"My brother was killed in action when I was ten. I've never talked about it with Sam, but every time he leaves I always picture my brother leaving again. Before he left he said to me, 'Take care of Mom and Dad, alright? I'm going to be back for Christmas, but I want to surprise them. So don't tell them, okay? I love you, Em.' I waited and waited, but he never came home. Christmas passed and there was still no sign of him. A few days later we got a notice saying he was killed in action. Every time Sam leaves, it's like the day my brother left. I can't stand it."

She looked over at the bowl. "Baking helps. It distracts me from everything. It's not a perfect solution, but it does helps."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Em. I had no idea..."

"It's alright. It's nice to talk about it with someone, you know? I could never bring myself to tell Sam any of this. He'd feel even more guilty about everything than he already is. He doesn't say anything to anyone, but I can see it in his eyes. I know how guilty he feels. But we get through it, and we're happy. No relationship is perfect, Hale, but if you both want it and it's meant to be, the relationship will be able to stand through everything."

We sat there for a few moments. She was probably thinking about her brother and mine, and I was sitting there reflecting about everything she said. I can't even think about my life without Sam. She was even stronger than I thought.

"Why don't you try baking? It might take your mind of off things."

I agreed, and she got me started baking cupcakes. It distracted me for the first few minutes, but soon I was doing everything half-heartedly. As I was adding in the butter, my mind wandered to Sam's reaction about everything. Like Em, I was able to see when he felt guilty, and he definitely felt guilty as we watched the video.

Jake's reaction came to mind as I started mixing the batter. He was beyond pissed, and I knew it took ever ounce of control he had not to phase. I wasn't worried though. He didn't pull away from me, so I knew he didn't think he was a threat to me. In fact, he did the opposite - he pulled me even closer to himself after that video.

I put the cupcakes in the oven and sat down to wait for them to bake. They had been gone for four hours, much longer than they have ever been gone before. My mind drifted back to what happened as we watched the movie.

_"So how much blackmail do we have on this Mike kid now? I'm going to feel so bad for this kid once we're done with this!" Embry laughed as he watched Mike grind against Alex. Tom had dared them that couldn't do it for a minute in front of old women. The women were staring at the two guys as they were walking down the road, some with disgusted looks on their faces while a few had pleased looks. Yuck._

_"I'd watch it, Em. Anything you do with that video to poor Mike, I might just have to do to you. Remember, I'm going to get pretty good blackmail video when you do our dare," I stated smugly._

_He paled. "Okay," he said. "The kid'll get off easy."_

_"Good." I returned my attention to the screen as Mike was attaching the camera to the surfboard. I frowned at that. I used to love surfing, and I'm most likely never going to go surfing for a very, very long time. Emma gave me strength, though. We were our own little support team and helped each other get over our old pastimes._

_Mike was paddling out to sea and he tried to catch a few waves, but failed miserably. Eventually we could see that everyone left and it was just Mike at the beach. I shook my head slightly as I looked how far he was paddling out to sea to catch his last wave. No wonder he got carried out to sea. Every good surfer knew when far became too far._

_The storm started and a huge wave crashed over Mike. He hit his head on the surfboard and got knocked out, but his body was able to stay on the board so he was able to get air. The current carried him out to sea._

_A few moments passed and you could see my tail come into view. My head shot out of the water, and although you couldn't see my face, you could see my hair and my back. I went back down into the water and my tail shot out of the water again, making it clear that I was a mermaid._

_The camera showed water moving, so I assumed that I went to the other side and started pushing and pulling the surfboard from that side. A flash of red caught my eye and I tensed._

_"What was that?" I whispered to Jake._

_"I don't know. I wouldn't worry about it though," he reassured me. Still, he brought his arm tighter around me._

_"There it is again!" I shot out of my seat, surprising Jake, who was still able to keep an arm around me. I pointed frantically at the screen. "What the heck is that!"_

_Jake brought me back to sit next to him. "I'm sure it's nothing, Hale," he said, rubbing my arm with his hand. It was soothing to say the least, but the red thing was still bothering me._

_I noticed that the guys got closer together with one another, and although I couldn't hear them, I knew they where whispering about what I saw. Jake growled softly a few times at them, only confirming my thoughts._

_The video was showing Mike entering the cave. You could see my arms pull Mike onto the ledge and drag him away from the edge. You could then see my feet walk away from him, and everything was calm for a while._

_Suddenly, the camera was pulled off of the surfboard and all you could see was a grey blur. When everything came back into focus though, there was Victoria._

_"Hello, little mermaid. You know, it's been very hard to keep an eye on you while you have your little dogs around all the time. But I'm doing it. How do you think I found you here?_

_"Now, you're probably wondering why I'm talking to you through this and not in real life while you're freaking out about that kid over there. It's quite simple, really. If I went over now to talk to you, you'd probably freak out and jump in the water here and get away, leaving this poor, defenseless kid here. And although I wouldn't love some more food to play with, I simply can't bring myself to get rid of this perfect moment to talk to you. I know once you find out about this tape you'll try and get it from the kid, and knowing you, you'll probably succeed. I have no doubts about that. So I'm going to finish this tape, put it back on that surfboard, and once again follow you home. It's not as creepy as it sounds," she smirked._

_"I'll probably have to give you some time for you to get this tape, won't I? Maybe I'll make it a little harder for the boy to get it out... That sounds good. I'll destroy the video camera so it will take some time to get the tape out. Hopefully you'll figure out there's a tape by the time someone gets it out. If not, I guess I'll have to steal the tape and leave it in your room. This will be fun." Her evil smirk came onto the screen again._

_"We still have a little deal to accomplish, mermaid. Don't forget about that. You _are_ going to help me."_

_With that, Victoria left the screen, the grey blur returned, and then you could see my back as I jumped in the water, turned into a mermaid, and got the heck out of there._

_"Bye," you could hear her whisper, and then the screen turned to static._

_The tape turned off then, and everything was quiet. I started to feel like I was going to have a panic attack. After all this time, she wasn't done? All of the guys got up and went into the kitchen to talk about what just happened except for Sam and Jake. I looked over at Sam and saw his head in his hands and him moving his head back and forth. Emily was rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. Eventually he looked up and I could see how guilty he felt. I couldn't look at him anymore so I turned to face Jake instead._

_I could hear Sam and Emily get up and leave while I was facing Jake. Jake, on the other hand, slowly, but surely, started to shake. He kept pulling me closer to him until I ended up on his lap with his arms engulfing me._

_"She's done too much damage. She's not going to do anymore. Not now, not ever," he kept mumbling to himself._

_The panic attack that I felt coming finally made an appearance. I started having trouble breathing and I could feel tears forming. I didn't want any of this! I was content with just mermaids and werewolves! I didn't need a death threat! Jake started rubbing my arm and back, trying to calm me down. I started shaking and buried my face in his chest. Eventually, his rubbing was able to calm me down, but Victoria's face was still engraved in my mind._

_We stayed there for a little while. I didn't know if anyone else was in the room or not, but I didn't care. I was content right there._

_Jake tensed at one point, and at that time all of the guys went running out the door. "I have to go for a little bit, alright Hale? I'll be right back." He carefully set me down on the couch and sped out the door. Emily came in and explained the situation to me, but I only listened half-heartedly. She left for the kitchen after that, leaving me on the couch._

The smoke detector going off brought me out of my daydream. "Shoot!" I yelled, jumping off the chair and dashing to the oven. I opened the oven door and black smoke came out of it, engulfing me in the process. I started coughing like a maniac as I tried to brush away the smoke. I grabbed an oven mitt and pulled out the cupcakes. They were all burnt to a crisp. "Dang," I mumbled to myself.

Emily came rushing in. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The cupcakes, not so much," I laughed, showing her my disaster.

She cracked a smile. "I don't think cooking is in your future," she laughed.

"No, probably not," I agreed as I set the cupcakes down on the table. "How mad do you think they would be if we made them eat them?"

She shrugged. "All depends on how bad they are."

"Well, we're going to find out." I looked in the cabinets and found two containers of frosting. Taking a knife from the drawer, I started putting a ton of frosting on each cupcake, trying to make it seem as though they weren't burnt.

"I think some of them are definitely going to kill you," she laughed.

I shrugged. "As long as they have funny reactions, it's all good."

As soon as I was done, I set the cupcakes back in the tin and put the tin on the table. After, Emily and I walked to the front door, checking to see if there was any sign of our wolves.

"Do you see them?" she asked.

I shook my head sadly. "It's taking them a really long time."

"I know," she said. "I'm going to go put my bread in the oven. You want to come?"

"Sure."

Once again, I was sitting at the table while she was cooking. I took a glance at my cupcakes and my brow furrowed.

"Hey Em, did you take one of the cupcakes?"

"No," she said. "Why?"

"'Cause there's one missing."

She took a look at the tin on the table. "Are you sure that you just didn't make one?"

"Positive," I said fiercely. What the heck happened to it? My eyes widened. Was the pack back and we just didn't know it?

Or was someone else in the house?

"Sam? Jake?" I called out. "Paul? Embry? Jared?"

I waited for an answer but none came.

I was about to go back to talking with Em when I heard it.

"Hello, mermaid."

* * *

Duh duh duhhh! I wonder what's going to happen nextt?

**MissElenaSalvatoreEfron18 - **thank you very muchh! :) and I hope you liked what was on the tape! haha

**Silentmusic226 - **I'm glad that you were happy! haha and it's okay, everything's alright :) my friend got a lot of damage to her house, but everyone is fine so that's good. It was so horrible to hear about the damage though when she talked to me. And I say do ittt! :D

**h.p.c.k.m.a. - **I'm glad you like it! and thank you so much! :D

**Hi. ImMariaa - **I'm glad you think it is! haha and ahhh! Isn't that so annoying! It's like you know what you're supposed to be doing, but everything just distracts you so you never get anything done! and I'm sorry that I didn't update very soon, but I hope you liked it!

**lamia vampress - **thank you so freaking much! you have no idea how much I love your comments! They literally make my day! :D and to tell you the truth, I've thought about it before haha I'm taking creative writing next semester in my school, so I'm going to see how that is :)

**ElenaxoxoSilber - **haha you were right! You're psychic! :P and I hope you liked what was on the tape! Victoria's just making a big mess of everything :P

**dialistar123 - **thanks for the info! I wrote the beginning of the story about a year and a half ago, and at that time, I wasn't sure about the distinction. Unfortunately, I never got around to fixing it. But I hope that you liked the story otherwise! :)


	25. Karma?

A/N: Oh my god, I am soooo sorry for the two month wait! I never meant to it to get that long :/ So I'm going to make this A/N really short so you can get on with the story! I hope you all still have interest in it! I have a new video up on my YouTube account so if you want to go check that out the link for my account is on my profile :) Unfortunately, I can't respond to my lovely reviews right now, but I'll pm you guys when I get the chance! Thanks sooo much for all of your guys support! I love you guys so much, and enjoy! :D

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_"Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it."_

_~ Sakyong Mipham_

* * *

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. My mind kept telling me to move and get the heck out of there, but my feet wouldn't budge an inch. Emily stood in front of me, her bowl shattered on the ground in from of her, her hands frozen in spot, her mouth agape, and her eyes wide. It seemed like she couldn't move either.

Crap.

"Aw. Look what we have here. Two for the price of one. So much better than what I originally thought." Victoria walked in front of me so she was staring into my eyes. "So how did your mutts like my friends? I met them back in South America. Great bunch. So willing to help with my plans. Did you know one has the power to make doubles of himself? Your dogs are going to be there for a very, _very_ long time."

She started walking around Em and traced her fingers along the edges of her scar. "Is that what the mutt did to you? Isn't that enough proof that vampires are much better than werewolves? We have so much more self-control. I can show you if you like." She started closing in on Em's neck and I realized what she was about to do. I set her hands on fire again and she jumped away from Em. "You little-"

"Emily, RUN!" I screamed, and she took off out the backdoor and into the woods.

Victoria turned to me. "I don't need both of you, you know. So what if you helped your little friend. You're still right here."

_Jake, please come home and help!_ I shouted in my mind.

Victoria picked up the table and threw it at me. I jumped out of the way, and it missed me by an inch. The table broke as it hit the kitchen wall. I ran into the living room and almost got to the front door when she ran in front of me.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I slowly back away while she stood there, clearly amused. "So the great mermaid is retreating. She doesn't have any more tricks up her sleeve," she laughed.

I looked around at our surroundings and an idea popped into my head. I might have one more trick up my sleeve, but Sam was going to kill me later.

I set fire to the rug she was standing on and the furniture surrounding her. I gave more life to the fire, and soon it was higher than her head. Once that happened, I ran out the back down and into the woods. I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. I found Emily by chance twenty minutes later. It seemed like we both took the same path, going straight into the woods and just kept on going that way.

"What do we do?" I asked Em, frantic.

"I have no idea," she said, almost on the verge of tears. She was huddled against a tree and had her hands wrapped around her legs. "I've never even seen a real vampire before except for the Cullens."

"What if she comes back? I can't do anything except set the whole forest of fire, and I don't think that will particularly go over well with the Elders!"

"What if we find Sam and Jake and the rest of the pack?"

I looked back at the way that we came, imagining Victoria coming down that path at any moment. "Sounds good to me. Let's go." I gave my hand to Em to help her up, and in the next minute we were in the woods trying to find our wolves.

I started shaking a little, and I knew that I was starting to have too much stress and my body couldn't handle much more. My body starting shaking and my heart hammered against my chest as I tried to look for the guys.

"Jake?" I called out. "Sam?"

Emily was doing the same thing. I suddenly got a chilling feeling, and a bad thought came over me.

"Em? What if she can hear us do that?"

She looked over at me. "Let's not do that anymore then," she said with wide eyes.

I agreed, and we continued our search. We were walking around for at least an hour and a half before we saw a flash of fur. I pointed frantically over where I saw it. "Was that them?"

"I think it was," she said, relieved. Two minutes later Sam and Jake came out of the trees in human form and the rest of the wolves were sitting behind them in their wolf forms.

Emily ran to Sam and gave him a fierce hug, while I ran to Jake and jumped on him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, and I buried my head in his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me up.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

Emily started telling him how Victoria came to our house, while I just pulled Jake closer. I saw one of the wolves sprint out of the woods when Emily talked about how Victoria could use both of us in her plan.

"I ran out of the house and I met up with Hale thirty minutes later. I have no how she got out. You'd have to ask her," was the last thing Em said before I felt all eyes on me. I unwrapped my arms from Jake and began speaking.

"I don't know how you guys do it," I started. "That was seriously the scariest moment of my life... And I don't think you'll be too happy with how I got away..."

And then I told them my story. Some stared in disbelief, while others congratulated me. At one point Sam seemed depressed that his house caught on fire, but that look was soon wiped of off his face as he looked at Em. I could read the expression on his face, _Nothing is better than your family._

"Paul, Embry. Come with me to check on the house and see if we can find Victoria. Jake, Quil. Take Em and Hayley to the town and find somewhere safe for them." With that, Sam let go of Em and ran off into the woods towards his burned-down house.

"Ready?" Jake asked. I nodded my head, and he grabbed my hand to lead the way.

"Where did Jared go?" I asked.

"Pretty sure he went to go check on Kim. He was worried that Victoria would go after her since she lost you guys."

"Well, at least it can't get any worse, right?" I asked Jake, hoping that he would confirm my thoughts. He grimaced instead. "Great. So it can."

Ten minutes later we walked out of the woods next to the grocery store. Quil wanted us to go inside to get some food. "It's been a long day, and I'm almost out of energy! A growing boy needs his food!" He didn't even wait for us to respond before he ran into the store. We followed him in there, and I stayed near the door while the other three grabbed as much food as they could carry. (Well, the two boys were anyway. Emily was trying to restrict the amount of food they were buying because she was the one who had to pay for it.) I glanced to my right and saw a stack of newspapers. I was about to look back at the boys when the headline caught my eye. What did I ever do to deserve a shitty day like this? Is this just karma for something bad I did?

_Renowned Marine Biologist Dr. Denman Arrives in La Push to Study its Ecosystem_


	26. Australia

_A/N: _I am SOO sorry to everyone who is reading this story! I did not mean to make the wait in any way, shape, or form this long. Life just really caught up to me, and I had a lot of things that I had to do (prom, auditions, etc.) that took up time, but that really isn't an excuse. I should have a least let you guys know what was going on. But I hope you all are still interested in this story, and I'll have a lot more time from now on! (And I'm not just saying that this time. I had my last day of high school yesterday (saddest thing to happen in a while) and so school things won't be as time consuming.) But THANK YOU to all my reviewers and readers! We reached over 200 reviews! :D That is freaking AMAZING! ENJOY the next chapter of FULL MOON!

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_"You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It wont happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, 'I don't care how hard this is, I don't care how disappointed I am, I'm not going to let this get the best of me. I'm moving on with my life."_

_~ Joel Osteen_

* * *

I slapped the newspaper on the counter, scaring the poor clerk from his half-asleep state. "How much?" I asked.

"$1.50"

I threw the money on the counter next to the paper, snatched the paper, and made my way through the store to try and find Jake and the others. I eventually found them near the chips. They were begging Emily to buy them the the twenty bags of chips and ten boxes of devil dogs they were holding.

"I'm not buying you those things. You know you guys get gas with them, and I'm not having my house stink like that again."

"Think about it, Em!" Quil exclaimed. "With no more food in the house, you're gonna need to get more! Why not start now?"

Emily sighed, and Jake elbowed him in the stomach. He let out a yelp and crouched down in pain. "What was that for?"

Jake glanced at Emily, and Quil widened his eyes. "Oh... I'm sorry, Em. I didn't mean too..."

She shrugged. "It's alright. Now, let's buy you those chips. No devil dogs," she said with a fake smile.

Embry put the devil dogs back on the shelves. We walked over to the counter and started placing food on the counter. With each ring, I thought of each way this could horribly end.

216 rings. 216 items we bought. 216 horrible ways this could end.

Jake and Embry grabbed all of the bags and we made our way out of the shop. We walked to the edge of the parking lot, and Jake passed all of his bags to Embry.

"I'm going to go check to see what's going on with the others," he said before he ran off into the woods.

Embry placed all of the bags on the ground. "Well, this has been an interesting day." He sat on the ground and pulled out a bag of chips.

"I think I'm going to go back to Australia for a while."

"What?" Embry said. Pieces of chips fell out of his mouth and littered the ground.

"I'm going to go home for a bit."

"But you can't! Jake's going to fall apart!"

"He's a big boy," I said with a slight smirk. "He can handle himself for a while."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Emily said. I looked over at her, and she was staring off into space. The wind got stronger and blew at all of us, making our hair whip around us.

"And why not?"

"They don't deal well when their imprints aren't around them."

"And then what happens when I leave for college? It's probably going to be weeks until I see him next."

She looked at me. "I don't know. We've never had anyone leave for college. They've always stayed at home or planned on going to a community college."

"I would talk to Jake. I don't exactly know what he's going to say when he hears that," Embry said, looking towards me.

I grimaced. "Well that's not going to be a fun conversation."

Jake came back and said that it was alright if we went back to the house. It took ten minutes to get back to the house, and we finally walked up to the house and saw the ruins. The whole front of the house was burned down, but the back still seemed to be stable. Sam, Paul, and Jared were scrounging around in the house ruins. A few belongings were in their hands as they rummaged through the remaining wood, but most of the belongings seemed to have been burned in the fire along with the house. A shudder rippled through my spine as I thought of who caused this. Me.

Sam walked over to me and handed me a book. _Quileute Legends_.

"It's one of the only things that is yours that survived. Paul's got the other stuff."

I nodded and kept the tears out of my eyes. Better my stuff than their stuff. I knew that I deserved it. It was my fault that the house burned down in the first place.

* * *

Three weeks passed since our house burned down, and anytime one of the pack had free time, they'd help rebuild it. Occasionally we'd get a few neighbors to help out, but most people didn't want to be near the house that randomly burned down and that was owned by the leader of "the gang."

Sam was right when he said that only a few of my stuff survived. I only had ten possessions to my name in La Push at the moment: the book, my phone, my baby blanket, my computer, three shirts, two shorts, and a sweatshirt. They were all luckily in a separate room that wasn't affected by the fire.

I started to have nightmares too. Luckily they weren't too bad, but I'd always wake up sweating and I'd end up zoning out every so often. The only one who was able to pull me back was Jake.

I started telling Cleo about my nightmares the last time we talked.

"That's not good, Hale. Are they getting any worse?"

"I don't know. I can't tell 'cause I don't even know what I'm like when I zone out. Jake just tells me that I zone out and that's it. Nothing more. But I think the nightmares are getting worse."

"Maybe it'd be a good idea to take a break for a while. Come back to Australia until the nightmares go away."

"I know that. And I've thought about it multiple times. I even told Embry and Emily that I was thinking about it. But I just can't say good-bye to them."

"You can leave them a note. It's not like you'll be here that long. I don't recommend it, but if it's the only way to do it, it's better than nothing. And I think you do need to get away for a while."

I sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'll see what I can do. I'll take to you later, alright?"

"See ya, Hale."

I hung up the phone and fell onto the bed. We were staying with Embry's family at the moment as he has the biggest house.

I grabbed my computer and went to check airline prices.

I let out a long sigh. That was A LOT of money. I did have enough saved up in my bank account, but it would put a huge dent in it.

I called my mom to ask her if it would be okay if I go, and she reluctantly said yes. I told her my break was coming up soon, so I wouldn't be missing any school.

"If it's what you think is best, honey, go ahead. But you're going to have to pay for the trip with your own money."

"That's fine. I kinda assumed that anyway. And mom? Can you not tell Sam about it till afterwards? After I leave?"

She let out a long sigh. "Hayley..."

"Please, mom?"

"Fine. But it wasn't my idea."

I smiled. "Thanks, mom!"

After talking a bit more about La Push and how the restoration of the house was going, I hung up the phone and purchased my airplane tickets. I was finally going home.

* * *

I was walking around La Push one day after school, bored out of my mind with the boys being on patrol. Walking down the abandoned roads, I decided to stop by First Beach and go for a quick dip.

I ran straight into the water without a second thought. The water felt incredible as I glided through it. I missed being able to go swimming everyday in Australia! But I knew I would be able to do it soon, and that brought a smile to may face.

I passed by the little cave in the wall of rock where Jake first saw me in my mermaid form and I laughed to myself. It was scary as hell when it first happened, but after the fact, his face became hilarious.

I followed the wall for a few miles and saw a school of fish up ahead. I raced ahead to go swim with them and giggled when they tickled me as they swam across me. I turned a corner in the wall and stopped short.

I almost threw up when I saw what was in front of me. For the past three weeks, I did good. I kept my distance. But now, Dr. Denman was swimming right in front of me.

She stared at me, obviously forgetting about her work. She grabbed her camera, but I raced away. This was not good, not good at all! She knew that we were lying now! And what is she went back to Zane's dad? What is started pursuing us again?

I dried off my tail and raced home. I ran up to my room and look at my plane ticket reservation. 5 days. 5 days, and I would be away from Denman. I just had to keep my distance until then.

* * *

_Review Responses:_

**Kenzie: **Thanks so much! And what's ten seconds later? I've never heard of it haha

**Coraline23: **More Jake and Hayley is to come! I've just got to set up a few things and there's gonna be a lot more :) and thanks for the tip!

**FallenSlayer17: **You're just going to have to wait and see ;) and thank you!

**Jenna:** I'm soo sorry I've made you wait this long! It totally wasn't supposed to happen :/

**dalistar123: **I know that there is a chance that Sam wouldn't be able to order Jake around, but I'm basing it off the fact that Hayley is Sam's sister and Sam is Jake's Alpha, so Sam would have a role in when Hayley was told. I also know the bathroom scene was kinda quick, but I wanted to get things rolling between Jake and Hayley and finding out the two's secrets as that's what I personally like to read (fast-paced stuff). And with them barging in, that's true, they really shouldn't have now that I think about it. And for the breathing under water thing from H2O, it never specifically said that the mermaids could hold their breath under water (if I remember correctly, and if I'm not, if you could show the episode where it came from that'd be great because I want to make sure I get as much stuff correct as possible). They just say that they were able to hold it for at least 17 minutes or something around there, never that they could hold their breath indefinitely. But thanks for pointing things out to me, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Thank you to all my reviewers! :D


	27. Newfound Information

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you all SOO much for all of your reviews/favorites/alerts and you reading this story! It all means so much to me! :) And can you believe that this story is a little over two years old now? I know I can't haha but this chapter is one of the longest ones I've written in a while! Enjoy the next chapter of _Full Moon_! :D

**Important:** I finally got a twitter! haha I figured since I'm not usually on this site to answer questions about when I'm posting things and such (I'm usually on my phone to check my mail and internet and stuff), I got a twitter so you guys can ask any questions concerning the story and I can update you on my update for this :) If you want to follow me, it's ** summerecho11**. I'm open to all suggestions, comments, etc. :) And now, enjoy!

* * *

_"Information is not knowledge."_

_~ Albert Einstein_

* * *

_Day 1 - Wednesday_

5:37 a.m. glowed from the clock beside my bed as I woke up for the final time that night. Every time I fell asleep, I would have nightmares about Denman and her experimenting on me. Most of them were one of the 216 ways that I thought of when we were all at the grocery store, but my stupid brain decided to think of even more ways that this could end.

I let out a long sigh and got up from my bed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep any more tonight, so I might as well get an early start to the day (even though I still believe that no one should be up at this time in the morning). I took a quick shower and got ready for school, and then I headed downstairs to eat some cereal. After taking out the Cheerios from the cabinet, I took the milk from the fridge and poured it into my bowl, careful not to spill any on me. After putting the milk back in the fridge, I quickly ate my cereal. I put the bowl in the sink and decided to go for a run.

The sky was dark and cloudy, so I was a little nervous about rain, but I ignored the nagging thought in my mind because I just really needed to get out of the house. Embry's house was filled with memories of what happened to my own home and my nightmares about Denman, and at this point, I just couldn't handle it.

I ran down the length of the shore in La Push, and the first thing that I noticed was Denman's boat floating in the water. Slightly curious (yet also very frightened), I slowly walked up the lonely boat. I stopped and waited for a few minutes, and it didn't seem like anyone was on the boat, so I walked up next to it. I climbed the ladder up to the main deck and walked around. The place was deserted! You would think that a scientist with all of this expensive lab equipment would take better care of her things and watch them, but luckily for me, she didn't.

I turned a corner and walked into what appeared to be the main lab. The green light from the computer caught my eye, and I ran over to it. After shaking the mouse a little bit, the screen flashed on. I glanced behind me to make sure that no one was coming, and then I started to explore her computer. Looking down at the bar that ran across the bottom of the screen, I found that she still had open a word document labeled "Classified."

My heart pounded against my chest. Should I look at it or not? Going against my conscious, I opened the document, and my breath hitched against my throat. I was right.

In the middle of the page, a picture of the four of us as mermaids was there.

"Shit," I whispered. I scrolled down and saw ten pages of information about mermaids and what she found out about us. I printed the papers and ran around the room to find the printer. Where the heck was it?

Across the room I heard the printer start up, and I jogged over there. It took two minutes for the papers to print out, and as soon as they printed out, I went back over to the computer to see what I should do about the file.

Should I delete it? But then that would let her to know that I was here and searching through her stuff. And then that would probably make her even more intent on finding me.

The sound of footsteps froze me in my spot. I frantically minimized the file and ran out of the lab. I hid behind a cabinet, and when I peered out, I saw Denman and another man walk into the lab and close the door. As soon as the door shut, I sprinted out of there and didn't stop until I was a mile down the road, the papers still in hand.

I trudged up the steps when I finally got to Embry's house, exhausted from my run. I collapsed on the couch as soon as I stepped inside the door.

"Whatcha get dere?"

I looked up and saw Embry's face right over mine. "Ugh, Em! How many times do I have to tell you to actually swallow your food before you start talking?"

He made a dramatic gulp. "Maybe just one more time?" he asked innocently.

"Maybe I should just tattoo it on you!" I laughed. He gave me a hard stare. "You know I would never do that. But what I do need to do is go take a shower. I smell," I said as I got up to go to my temporary room and then the bathroom.

"Good idea! Get that wet dog smell off you while you can! But I guess now that you're with Jake, it will never fully go away!"

"Ah, shut up!"

For the next few hours in school, it was all I could do not to fall asleep. I'm pretty sure that I took a nap in every single class, but I didn't get very far in them because my nightmares would come. It bugged me that I couldn't take a five minute nap now without having nightmares. I think I remember hearing that it has something to do with your REM sleep. If you lose REM sleep (or your dream sleep) by keep waking up in the middle of your dreams, then your body will go into it faster when you sleep. Which means I get to see Denman faster... Stupid body.

But what made my day turn around was what was standing in front of me as I walked out of the school. Standing next to his motorcycle was Jake with two helmets in hand.

"What's this?" I asked as I walked up to him.

"I thought we should try something new for a change. A little more exciting."

"I don't know if I can do this, Jake." I took a long look at the bike, and I didn't particularly like what I saw.

"Come on. You know you'll like it!"

I grimaced. "We'll see. How'd you get the bike anyway?"

"Bella and I fixed up two bikes she got. I got to-"

"Alright, let's go." I grabbed one of the helmets in his hand and swung my right leg over the seat. I put on the helmet and patted the seat in front of me. "You coming or not?"

He grinned and put on his own helmet. He sat down in front of me, and I put my arms around his waist. I could feel his abs through his shirt, and I squealed to myself. He laughed, making his chest move up and down.

"Ah, shut up!" I yelled at him, punching him in the stomach for good measure.

He revved up the engine and started through the parking lot. I buried my head in his back since I was scared out of my wits, and I slammed my eyes shut. I only opened them when I felt us turn a tight corner.

And there was Bella, staring straight at us. I buried my face in his back as soon as I saw her, and I felt us turn out of the parking lot.

"You alright back there?"

"Not particularly," I mumbled into his shirt.

And once again, he laughed.

I finally took my head out of his shirt about half-way during the ride. Glancing to both sides of me, I saw the forest rush past us. I looked back and saw the black pavement run away from us. I turned back around and rested my head on top of his shoulder. "This is amazing!" I yelled.

He turned his head towards me. "I told you you'd like it!"

He turned the corner and started down the longest road in La Push. We were the only ones riding down the road, so Jake went even faster.

"Slow down, will ya!"

He revved up the engine and went even faster.

"Stupid idiot," I muttered.

Within the next few minutes we were in front of Embry's house, and he stopped the motorcycle. I took my helmet off and got off of the bike. I handed him his helmet and hugged him good-bye.

"Thanks for the ride, Jake," I smiled.

He smiled back. "No problem."

I started walking towards the door when he called my name.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning back around.

"You know, we never got to have that date. How about Friday night at 7?"

How could I have forgotten about that? "Sounds good! See you then!"

I waved bye, went inside the house, and ran up to my room. After flopping on my bed, I stared up at my ceiling and let out a long, happy sigh.

My daydream crumbled when I looked over at my bag though. "Shoot! I totally forgot!"

I scrambled off my bed and ran towards my bag. I started rummaging through it. "Where the heck is it?" I dumped everything out of my bag and started going through it all on the ground.

"There!" I grabbed the ten page report and flattened all of the pages out. A small edge of something was sticking out of the corner in between some of the middle pages. I tilted my head and took it out. My eyebrows furrowed together as I pulled out an envelope. When did I get an envelope?

_"I'm assuming that you know about the letter," Alice said as she walked towards me._

_I took a step back. "What are you talking about? What letter?"_

_She looked confused. "They didn't tell you? I thought Carlisle directed it at everybody, including you."_

_"No, they didn't tell me," I said, crossing my arms. "What was in the letter?"_

_"Here's a second one. We made another copy in case you didn't receive the first one." I took the letter from her hands. "Please tell the pack leader that we would like a response."_

_"How do you know about the pack?" I asked, bewildered._

_"Why wouldn't we know about the pack? We've had a treaty with them for the past hundred years."_

_"100 years? I don't find that quite believable. But just to humor me, what treaty would that be?"_

_"The one that says werewolves can't be phased on our lands, and in return, we vampires wouldn't be allowed on Quileute land."_

Oh. That letter.

Putting the letter to the side to read later, I started flipping through Denman's report, stopping every so often to read something that caught my eye. Reaching into my pocket to grab my phone, I pulled it out and called Cleo.

"Hello?"

"Cleo? Put everyone on the phone. Now."

"Why? What happened?"

"Just get everyone on here."

"You're in luck. We're on break so everyone's here. You're on speaker."

"Is anyone else around?"

"No. Just the four of us," Emma said.

"Okay. First thing first. Denman's back. She's here in La Push."

"What?"

"How?"

"Why is she even there?"

"Oh, and that isn't even the best part," I fake laughed. "I saw her. In the water. With my tail."

"You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding Hale," Lewis begged.

"Nope. And when I snuck on her boat, I found a whole file on us. Ten pages long."

"Shit," Rikki said.

"What does it say?" Emma asked.

I went back to the front page. "Here's her first entry: 'My assistant found an intriguing scale of some sort. When it is dried, it shrivels up and looks like a skin cell, and when it becomes wet, it turns into the scale shape and color. I'll be asking him for more information on where he got since he wouldn't tell me anything the first time.'"

"What else does she have in there?" Cleo asked.

"She has some drawings of us, as well as some pictures that she got with her camera, but most of it is entries and hypotheses." I flipped to the fourth page. "Oh, here's a good one: 'I found out who the girls are. They're names are Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and Hayley, although I have not found out their last names. That should not be too hard to figure out though. I plan to study them and see what makes their scales work. Does that cave that they always go to have anything to do with it?'"

"So she did have suspicions on what powers the Moon Pool had," Emma said.

"I guess so. But I don't remember her getting close to that idea. Not until we "lost" our powers," I said.

"Neither do I," Cleo agreed.

I kept flipping through it. "She has some entries about how we lost our powers too. But then her final entry is about when she saw me. I didn't get a chance to read it all, but do you want me to send it to you guys?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Hale," Lewis said.

"No problem."

"We actually have to go now though. We're already late for class. Bye!" Cleo said.

"Talk to you later!" I said to them.

I heard them all say bye and then the call ended. I got up from my floor and went downstairs to Embry's printer. I scanned the pages and sent it to all four of them. After making sure the message sent, I went back upstairs to the spare bedroom where I was sleeping and placed the papers on my desk. Exhausted from the early start I had to the day, I crawled into bed. I turned off my bed side lamp and promised myself that I would look at the other letter tomorrow.

* * *

**Elena_Efron-Malik19: **Thanks for understanding :) and I'm glad you liked it! And I never really liked her either :/ she always got in the way of things haha

**ElenaxoxoSilber: **I'm so glad to hear from you again! :D And to tell you the truth, I've really missed writing it too haha and thank youu! And don't worry, you'll be great :)

**BugzBunay: **You're just going to have to wait and see! :P

**tyra8888: **You'll just have to see :P and actually, I had an alternate ending sort of thing where she did swim to Australia, but then I kinda thought that that was improbable, so I cut it out haha and wicked is a really funny word! My cousin hates it though cause her roommates say it all the time haha


	28. The Volturi

**IMPORTANT: **hey guys! Just one little announcement before the story! I've gotten a twitter account, and that is most definitely the easiest way to see and be updated on story updates, etc. So follow me at ** summerecho11** and you'll be the first to know all about _Full Moon_! Thank you guys SOO much for all the support and reviews/favorites/follows. They mean the world to me and I love you all! And now, enjoy!

* * *

_You, you're always there for me when I need you most. Day and night, you're by my side protecting me. When I feel like crashing down, you seem to be around. There you are, you're not that far cause whenever, where ever baby, you'll protect me no matter what._

_Hold me tight with all your might. And you'll never let me go._

_~ Aly and A.J._

* * *

_Day 2 - Thursday_

5:14. That was the time I woke up due to Denman's horrid face peering at me through a 5 inch glass fish tank. It took me a good ten minutes to calm down because every time I closed my eyes to lower my panic level, she would be there, staring at me like I was a fish in one of her experiments.

After finally gaining enough composure to get out of bed, I grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom to take a bath. I watched the hot water pour into the tub as I gathered my big bottles of shampoo and conditioner. After stepping into the tub, I quickly sat down so that I wouldn't fall over. The tingling sensation made me smile, and my tail sprouted before my eyes. The stupid thing got me into this whole mess, yet it was one of the only things that could calm me down. You could probably guess the other one.

After about 30 minutes, I dried off my tail and got ready for school. After changing, brushing my hair, and brushing my teeth, I grabbed the letter on my nightstand and stuffed it in my backpack. I walked down the stairs with 20 minutes to spare before I had to go to school.

"Why are you always up so early now? Before we could barely get you out of bed," Sam asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me. I just haven't been able to get a good night sleep lately."

"I'm sorry," he said as I grabbed a bowl of cereal.

"Not your fault," I said as I sat down next to him.

We ate in silence until it was time for me to go to school. I think we both just had a little too much on our minds to talk to each other. And he may not know why I was freaking out, but I certainly knew why he was. The reconstruction of his house wasn't going as well as we hoped. He's been giving out more shifts to each of the wolves because we were supposedly told by the Cullens that there was another coven near by. Not close enough to La Push to do any real damage, but close enough that Sam got paranoid. The extra shifts meant less people to work on the house and a pushed-out completed date. He's been trying for days to figure out a better way to get that house fixed, but he's been stumped.

"Come on, let's get you to school," Sam said. I nodded my head and followed him out the door.

* * *

Lunch time rolled around much quicker than yesterday, and I didn't take as many naps in as many classes, so that was good! Instead of taking my normal seats with Alex and Becca at lunch though, I told them that I had a lot of studying to do and instead headed off to the library. I grabbed two chemistry books and a calculus book and found a secluded corner in the back of the library.

I stacked the books to the side of me to form a wall that separated me from the rest of the library and fumbled through my backpack looking for that letter. After finding it at the bottom of my backpack, I pulled it out and set it on the table in front of me.

"Okay. You can do this Hale. I mean, how bad could it be?"

I placed my finger under the white fold and ripped it from the rest of the crumpled envelope. Taking a huge breath, I took out the folded note and opened it up, smoothing out all the wrinkles.

_Dear Samuel Uley,_

_On a previous visit to our house, we noticed some strange, and maybe alarming, things concerning Hayley. We hope that this letter is no need for alarm, but we wanted to bring some things to your attention._

_When my daughter Alice worked with her in her Chemistry class, we found that Alice could not see any part of her future. We do realize that she cannot do this with the members of your pack, but considering that she is not a shapeshifter, we became concerned. There may be other reasons for this, but Alice can usually see everybody's future - if they have one._

_Secondly, Hayley also seemed to evade Edward's mind reading capabilities. This would not concern us since Bella also has the ability to do this, but since it is in combination with her ability to evade Alice's power, it is quite concerning._

_We do not wish to cause a feud or fight between your family and our family, but we just wanted to say this as a warning and a precaution. Alice has seen the Volturi arrive within the next few months, and they do not like anything other than vampires and humans to exist. They have already wiped out most of the werewolves, and they have not tried to do the same to you since they do not truly know of your existence. I do not know what they may do when they see how Hayley evades our family's powers and they become aware of your existence. It may be something drastic._

_I hope that you use the information in this letter and take precaution when dealing with the Volturi. They are much more powerful than they let on. I hope that you provide a response back to us and that we can discuss if there is anything that we should do concerning Hayley and if any other actions need to be taken._

_Carlisle Cullen_

My eyes scrunched together at the old letter. Who were the Volturi? And how did the Cullens have powers?

I folded the letter back up and stuffed it in my jean pocket. Grabbing the strap of my backpack, I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the library.

* * *

"Jake?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

We were both in my room after school. I was attempting to do homework before he came, but it became hard once he put his head in my lap, so I gave up. Instead of doing Pre-calculus like I should have, I stroked his forehead.

"Who are the Volturi?"

He looked up at me. "Where did you hear about them from?" he asked sternly.

"I heard people talking about it."

"That's a lie. One, you're biting your lip again. Two, normal people don't know about them. You have to have special connections to know about them."

"What kind of special connections?"

"Ones that the rest of the pack and I have."

"So they're related to shapeshifters?" I asked.

He sat up on my bed and let out a long sigh, the wind he made going in the direction of his hair. It made the ends up his short black hair go up and then fall back down again. "You know how we told you that vampires exist? Well, they have they're own kind of royalty. They make sure that other vampires don't expose the existence of vampires. They're the Volturi."

"And why do people fear them?"

"Because they're cruel, ruthless killers. They have powers that allow them to be the best at torturing, at killing."

He laid back down in my lap signaling that this conversation was over, even though there were so many more questions running through my head. What was I supposed to do?

Jake saw how concerned I was about this, and he quickly got up, put his strong arm around my waist, and gently pulled me down so that I was lying down on the bed. He kissed the top of my forehead.

"Don't worry about anything like that, Hale." He looked me right in the eye and rested his forehead on mine. "You've got nothing to worry about. I'll be there before anything comes even close to hurting you. I promise."

I smiled. "I believe you."


	29. First Date

**A/N: **Hey everyone! I am SOOO sorry for this extremely late update! Although it's no excuse, I had just started college last year and things got super hectic and I never really got a chance to work on the story. But I'm going to keep this A/N short and sweet so that you guys can get onto the story! Thank you all SO much for your continuing support this past year and a half! I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter of _Full Moon_! :)

* * *

_You know I'd fall apart without you._

_I don't know how you do what you do._

_'Cause everything that don't make sense about me_

_Makes sense when I'm with you._

~ Wanted, _Hunter Hayes_

* * *

_Day 3 - Friday_

I woke up to Jake's right arm wrapped snugly across my stomach and his face tucked into the crook of my neck. As I groggily sat up, I remembered that last night I fell asleep soon after his comforting, and I suppose he did too. I was just surprised that Sam didn't make Jake leave.

I stumbled over to the calendar and saw that it was Friday! It was the date day! I shot a glance at Jake and giggled under my breath. After probably more than a month of pretty much being boyfriend and girlfriend (we didn't exactly have a term to describe ourselves), we were finally going on a real, honest-to-goodness date! And it was this very night!

After attempting to wake up Jake (which did not succeed), I grabbed my clothes and went to the bathroom to change. I put on my jeans and black sweater, and after finishing brushing my teeth and my hair, I went back to my room to put on my boots. Since it was supposed to be a particularly cold day, I grabbed my purple scarf and threw it around my neck. After making sure that the scarf was set in the right place, I walked over to my bed and attempted to wake up Jake again.

At first I started to tap on his shoulder and call out his name, but I soon found out that that was not going to work. Instead, I started shaking him. He mumbled something and swung his arm out, which hit me in the face. I stumbled back and clutched my face, grunting in pain. I walked over to the mirror and saw that a bruise was starting to form on my right cheek. Just great.

I put cover-up on it to hide it the best I could before I attempted to wake Jake up again. I walked back over to the bed and pushed him once last time before I jumped out of the way in case another arm was going to be sent flying my way. Luckily, this final push jerked him awake, and he rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on?" he mumbled.

"Well, we're almost going to be late for school if you don't hurry up and get ready!" I said as I french-braided my hair.

"Shit!" he said before he leaped off the bed. "Crap, crap, crap. I got to go home and get my stuff before I go to school. And my dad is going to want to talk to me too about why I was out so late and I'm not gonna have an excuse because he knows my patrol schedule. And I got to drop you off at school too before all of the this. I'm probably just going to have to skip first period. That'll be okay. Mr. Miller won't mind."

I looked over at him before I grabbed his hand. "Don't worry, okay? I can probably get Sam to drive me in so you won't be late."

"No, it's okay. Like I said, Mr. Miller won't mind too much. He's really lenient with all this kind of stuff."

"Okay, but let's go so you don't miss second period too!"

We ran down the stairs and ran across the yard to where he parked his motorcycle. I grabbed the spare helmet and shoved it on while Jake started up the bike. I climbed onto the bike and snaked my hands around his body.

As soon as Jake felt my arms around his body and knew that I was secure, he sped off onto the road towards Forks High. Sooner than I would have liked, we pulled in the parking lot and I jumped off of the bike.

"Bye, Jake. See you tonight!" I smiled at him before I ran towards the front door, trying not to be late to my first period. I made it inside and I turned around to see him speed off the way that we came. Fixing my backpack's straps, I walked down the three halls it took my get to my class, daydreaming about what would happen that night the entire way.

* * *

The day ended up being dreadfully long. My teachers would not stop talking, and I became more impatient each time someone asked a question. I just wanted the day to be over with!

Right as the final bell rang, I ran out the door and into the parking lot. Sam was waiting in his car for me at the front of the line of about 20 cars waiting for other students.

"Jake decided not to come today?" I asked as I hopped into the car as quickly as I could. The cars behind us were already starting to get impatient and were honking their horns at us.

"Nah. His dad got a call from the school today saying that Jake skipped first period, and he got really mad at Jake, so he was told to go straight home." So much for Mr. Miller being lenient. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about him being late, would you?" Sam stared me down from the corner of his eye.

I smiled at him. "No, of course not! I'm offended you would think such a thing. I would never try to make someone late, especially not for school, thank you very much." I could tell that he could see straight through the lie, but he didn't say anything and let it be.

We didn't talk much for the rest of the car ride, but when we pulled into the driveway Sam spoke again. "Be careful tonight, alright? I know that you're going to be with Jake, but I'm going on patrol and I would really appreciate it if I didn't coming back to you being lost or burning down the house. Again."

I grimaced. "I'll be with Jake the entire time and I promise we won't do anything bad. You just make sure that you come back home from patrol alright."

He smiled and nodded while opening the door and getting out of the car. I followed him into the house and went upstairs so that I could start getting ready. Jake was coming over in two hours and I still had to take a shower and figure out what to wear and get ready! I went into my bathroom and turned the shower on, letting the steam from the hot water fill up the bathroom. I took off my clothes and jumped into the shower, quickly sitting down so that I didn't fall when my tail appeared. Right on cue, my legs transformed into orange scales.

"You know," I said, "you're really inconvenient when trying to take a shower." After finally finishing washing my hair and body (which was a pain in the butt when I had to wash my tail and I could barely reach the fins), I turned off the shower, dried off, and went back into my room.

"I'm going on patrol now, Hale! Em's at the store so you're gonna be here alone until she comes back!" Sam called up to me.

"Kay! Sounds good! See you later tonight!"

I walked over to my closest, trying to decide what to wear. I eventually decided on a light blue dress with lace sleeves, matched with nude flats and my necklace. Looking back on it, I never took that necklace off. It was a little reminder to myself that I wasn't alone with all this mermaid stuff, even if I was the only mermaid here. I curled my hair, put mascara on, and grabbed my bag, smiling to myself that I was all ready, even before Jake got here! Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was 5:00. He wasn't even supposed to be here for another 30 minutes!

Groaning, I collapsed on my bed. What was I supposed to do for 30 minutes?

I guess I found my answer when I woke up with a small headache. Hearing the doorbell ring again, I quickly made my way downstairs and opened up the door.

Jake was standing there in a nice white shirt and khakis, most definitely the nicest clothes I have ever seen him in. He had a huge smile on his face, which soon became even bigger as he started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest and a slight smirk on my face.

"Did you just wake up?"

My smirk immediately fell off my face. I could tell where this was going. I ran down the hall and into the bathroom where I could see a mirror. I grimaced at the image that looked back at me. My hair was sticking up in unnatural ways, and I combed my fingers through it, trying to calm it down. Jake followed after me and leaned on the doorway.

"You know, it's not that bad. You could probably make it into a new style if you tried hard enough."

I glared at him.

He put his hands up. "Alright, alright. No new hairstyle. But I still think that you look beautiful either way," he said as he tucked the final flyaway piece of hair behind my ear.

I could feel my cheeks heating up, and I told him that we should probably start to head out.

"Where are we going anyways?" I asked as we got into the car.

"Just like you asked, we_ are_ going to a fancy restaurant."

"Jake, I didn't actually mean that! I don't want to force you into anything."

"Don't you worry about that. There's two parts to this date. This is only the first."

I smiled to myself. I certainly had the best boyfriend ever.

We pulled up to a restaurant in the town over from Forks called _Lusiano's_. It was an extremely beautiful Italian restaurant, complete with the Italian music and the romantic low-lighting. I ordered the shrimp pasta while Jake ordered a plate of chicken parmesan and a plate of lasagna. Even with the extra plate of food, he still finished before me.

"You gonna finish that?" he asked when I put my fork down.

I shook my head. "Go for it," I said, laughing. He was actually a garbage disposal.

After Jake had paid for the dinner, he grabbed my hand and brought me to the car. "Are you ready for the second part of our date?"

"Of course! Although I'm kind of wary about what it is. Can you tell me now?" I pleaded. I asked him before but he had said that it wasn't the right time to tell.

He shook his head. "I told you, it has to be a surprise! Right up to the very last moment."

It took about 15 minutes to get where we needed to be. As he pulled up into a space in the parking lot, my eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Are you serious?" I asked, overjoyed. I had never gone ice skating before even though I had always wanted to. We just always spent our time by the beach in Australia.

He nodded. "I know that you have never gone, so I wanted to take you for your first time. I asked Sam to give me some clothes for you just in case you couldn't skate in what you wore. They're in the back if you want them. There's gloves in there too just in case you fall and land on your hands. I wasn't sure about how you react to ice."

I leaped onto him, hugging him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I grabbed the clothes in the back and ran into the building to change in the bathroom. After I changed and put my old clothes back in the car, we went to the ticket counter and paid for both our tickets and skate rentals. We got our skates, laced them up, and went out to the rink. Jake went onto the ice with ease while I stayed on the opposite side of the door, looking down nervously at the ice.

"Nervous?"

I looked up at him. "Of course not," I lied. Still, I grabbed onto his outstretched hand and took my first step onto the ice.

Jake tried to teach me how to skate and pulled me along to get me going. Fortunately, he was also there to catch me before I fell during my many near-fails. We decided to take a break after a while at one of the benches they use in hockey. I hoisted myself onto the wall while Jake stood next to me.

"How are you liking it?"

"I love it!" I exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek. "Even if I can't stay up on my own. Thank you so much for taking me here, Jake."

"No problem. I'll be right back. I just got to go to the bathroom. Do you want to stay here or wait outside the rink on the benches out there?"

"I'll wait here. It's kind of nice just watching everyone skate by."

He nodded and skated towards the door and off the ice. A few minutes had gone by when I saw Eric skating by with Angela.

"Crap." I swung my legs over the wall and into the players' benches, hoping that he didn't see me. Unfortunately, luck must not have been on my side because Eric came over soon after and peered over the wall.

"What're you up too?"

I glanced up. "Just tightening my laces. They were kind of loose. What's up?" I pretended to finish fixing up my laces and straightened up to sit on the bench.

"You know, we never got to finish what we started the other day."

I tried to smile at him, thinking of a way to get out of this. "Where's Angela? Shouldn't you be with her?"

"I asked her to go get some food. She's not here right now."

"Look, Eric..."

"What's going on here?"

Eric looked back to see Jake glaring at him, arms crossed over his chest. He looked extremely intimidating, and I could tell Eric was about to pee his pants. Eyes wide, Eric flew from the scene and skated away to go find Angela, or at least that's what I assumed.

"I don't like that kid, not at all."

I wrapped my arms around Jake's neck, directing his attention away from Eric and back to me. "Like I said before, you have nothing to worry about with him. He's got nothing compared to you."

He smiled and lifted me out of the benches and back onto the ice. We skated (or at least in my case, attempted to skate) until the skate guards told us free skate was over. We gave back our skates and soon jumped into the car. Jake started the car and we drove back home. Once we reached my house, I leaned over to Jake and gave him one final hug.

"Thank you so much, Jake. I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had tonight."

"Good, 'cause we're going to be doing a lot more of these."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I kissed him goodnight and walked back into my house. Jake left once I got inside, and I walked up to my room to go to bed. After getting ready, I put my phone on my nightstand to let it charge and I saw the plane tickets. Immediately, guilt consumed me. I had never told Jake yet.

"Maybe our next date won't be as soon as we thought."


End file.
